Department for Transport

Southeastern Trains: Cleaning Services

Bell Ribeiro-Addy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the contractor is indemnified from penalty payments caused by industrial action under the terms of the contract between Southeastern Trains Ltd and Churchill Group.

Wendy Morton: Under Chapter 9.6, Paragraph 1 of the Service Contract between The Secretary of State for Transport, DOHL and South East Trains Limited, the Department is unable to provide confidential commercially sensitive information between a train operator and a third party.

Southeastern Trains: Cleaning Services

Bell Ribeiro-Addy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the contractor is required to have a plan for good industrial relations under the terms of the contract between SE Trains Ltd and Churchill Group.

Wendy Morton: Under Chapter 9.6, Paragraph 1 of the Service Contract between The Secretary of State for Transport, DOHL and South East Trains Limited, the Department is unable to provide confidential commercially sensitive information between a train operator and a third party.

Southeastern Trains: Cleaning Services

Bell Ribeiro-Addy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the contractor is obliged to provide regular reports in respect of an equalities action plan under the terms of the contract between SE Trains Ltd and Churchill Group.

Wendy Morton: Under Chapter 9.6, Paragraph 1 of the Service Contract between The Secretary of State for Transport, DOHL and South East Trains Limited, the Department is unable to provide confidential commercially sensitive information between a train operator and a third party.

Southeastern Trains: Cleaning Services

Bell Ribeiro-Addy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish correspondence between his Department and the directors of Southeastern Trains Ltd in respect of the dispute between sub-contracted cleaning staff and Churchill Group.

Wendy Morton: Under the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act (2000), if requested, the Department will consider whether it is able and appropriate to publish relevant correspondence between the Department and South East Trains with regards to any issues.

Southeastern Trains: Cleaning Services

Bell Ribeiro-Addy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, on what date the cleaning contract between Churchill group and Southeastern Trains Ltd expires.

Wendy Morton: The contract between South East Trains and Churchill’s is currently scheduled to expire on the 13th of October 2024, with break clauses to allow the contract to be ended early if necessary.

Transport for the North: Finance

Dame Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion has been reduced from Transport for the North's budget.

Andrew Stephenson: Transport for the North’s (TfN) core funding for financial year 2022-23 totals £6.5m, a rise of £500k on the previous year. This is made up of a base grant of £6.1m and an additional £400k to cover TfN’s new Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) role.In the next financial year, Transport for the North will transition from NPRco-client to co-sponsor. As such, the funding previously provided to TfN to contract Network Rail and other stakeholders will now directly flow through the Department.The Department will also continue to support the Rail North Partnership in the coming financial year and will inform TfN once the level of funding is finalised.

Transport for the North: Staff

Dame Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the workforce headcount at Transport for the North was in (a) 2020, (b) 2021 and (c) 2022; and what the projected headcount is for the end of 2022.

Andrew Stephenson: The Department provides Transport for the North (TfN) with a financial settlement commensurate with the delivery of its statutory functions. As a devolved body, it is for TfN to set its business plan and associated staffing plans.Following confirmation of their core grant allocation, Transport for the North are undertaking business planning procedures for the forthcoming financial year. It is not for the Government to comment on business planning of a devolved body.

Transport for the North: Staff

Dame Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many jobs have been identified as being at risk of redundancy at Transport for the North as a result of reductions in budget.

Andrew Stephenson: Transport for the North’s (TfN) core funding for financial year 2022-23 totals £6.5m, a rise of £500k on the previous year. This is made up of a base grant of £6.1m and an additional £400k to cover TfN’s new Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) role.The Department has provided TfN with a financial settlement that will enable it to effectively deliver its statutory functions. As a devolved body, it is for TfN to set its business plan and associated staffing plans. It is not for the Government to comment on business planning of a devolved body.

Motor Vehicles: Registration

Sir Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many classic vehicles have had their V5 documents rescinded by the DVLA; and whether his Department has plans to take steps in response to that matter.

Trudy Harrison: The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) does not rescind vehicle registration certificates. The owners of some classic vehicles who may be unable to provide evidence of the vehicle’s history may not be allocated the vehicle registration number being requested.Information about the number of these vehicles is not held and could only be provided at disproportionate cost. A scan of the DVLA’s vehicle register and subsequent manual interrogation of each vehicle record would be necessary to obtain the information requested.The DVLA regularly engages with historic vehicle owners’ clubs and considers information received from historic marque specialists in support of applications to register historic vehicles. The DVLA recognises that some vehicles require the expert opinion of specialists to ensure that historic vehicles are preserved. Every effort is made where evidence allows to reunite vehicles with their original registration numbers and if that is not possible to allocate alternative age-appropriate registration numbers.The DVLA has recently set up a user group to support the historic vehicle sector. This promotes collaborative working between representatives from the historic and classic vehicle sector in relation to the DVLA’s services, policies, and initiatives.

Electric Vehicles: Birmingham

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to improve access to electric vehicle charging points for public use in Birmingham.

Trudy Harrison: Building on the £1.9 billion from Spending Review 2020, the Government has committed an additional £620 million to support the transition to electric vehicles to support the rollout of charging infrastructure, with a particular focus on local on-street residential charging, and targeted plug-in vehicle grants. The total funding committed by this Government to both electric vehicle grants and infrastructure is £2.5 billion.To date, grant funding for both electric vehicles and their supporting charging infrastructure has been demand led so there is no specific amount of funding that has been allocated to Birmingham City Council. We encourage all Local Authorities, electric vehicle drivers and workplaces in Birmingham to apply for grant funding through the On-Street Residential Chargepoint, Electric Vehicle Homecharge and Workplace Charging Schemes to assist with the cost of buying and installing electric vehicle chargepoints on residential streets, at drivers’ homes and at workplaces.We are considering the design of new schemes to ensure good provision across the country. Our forthcoming EV Infrastructure Strategy will set out how the Government will intervene to address the gaps between the current market status and our vision, and how we will monitor progress going forward to 2030.

Electric Vehicles: Birmingham

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the number of electric vehicle charging points available for public use in Birmingham.

Trudy Harrison: As at 1 January 2022, there were 194 public electric vehicle charging devices in the Birmingham local authority area.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Modern Working Practices Review

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department plans to implement the recommendations of the Taylor Review of Modern Working Practices.

Paul Scully: We have made significant progress in implementing the recommendations of the Taylor Review, including:- closing the loophole which saw agency workers employed on cheaper rates than permanent workers;- quadrupling the maximum fine for employers who treat their workers badly; and- giving all workers the right to receive a statement of their rights from day one. The Government is committed to building on this record to deliver a high skilled, high productivity, high wage economy that delivers on our ambition to make the UK the best place in the world to work and grow a business.

Roads: Freight

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has had recent discussions with Ministerial colleagues in the Treasury on the potential merits of making financial support available to the haulage sector affected by rising fuel costs.

Greg Hands: The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Energy: Prices

Dame Meg Hillier: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking with Ofgem to help support residents with communal heating systems not subject to the energy price cap.

Greg Hands: The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Climate Change Convention: British Overseas Territories

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the level of annual emissions of British Overseas Territories which remain outside the Paris Agreement.

Greg Hands: The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Climate Change Convention: British Overseas Territories

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Answer of 1 October 2019 to Question 291441 on Carbon Emissions: British Overseas Territories, whether his Department is continuing to consult British Overseas Territories on their potential incorporation into the Paris Agreement.

Greg Hands: The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Climate Change Convention: British Overseas Territories

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, which British Overseas Territories have been incorporated into the (a) UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, (b) Doha Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol and (c) Paris Agreement as of January 2022.

Greg Hands: The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Pneumoconiosis: Compensation

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how levels of compensation are assessed under the Coal Industry Pneumoconiosis Compensation Scheme.

Greg Hands: The Coal Industry Pneumoconiosis Compensation Scheme (CIPCS) provides compensation to former mineworkers or their estates. There are three categories of compensation: Lump Sum Payments: Tariffs are determined by the age at the date of onset of the disease and the year of certification. In instances in which there is no Industrial Injuries Disablement (IIDB) and a Death Certificate is relied on, the tariff is based on a 10% disability. Each year the relevant tariffs are increased in line with RPI, with those new figures being applicable from 3 May in respect of certifications within that year (e.g. for a former mineworker certified in October 2012 the correct table would run from 3 May 2012. Whereas for a former mineworker certified in October 2021, the correct table would run from 3 May 2021). Progression Payments: These are paid to those who have an increase in disability of more than 20% which is evidenced by an IIDB re-assessment. Loss of Earning Allowance Payments: These relatively uncommon payments are made to former mineworkers until they turn, or would have turned, 62. In living claims, payment is subject to being in receipt of one of a number of specific benefits and verification that the qualifying disease caused an inability to work for 28 successive weeks or more.

Fossil Fuels: Russia

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with his European counterparts who are dependent on Russian oil or gas on how quickly they could diversify their energy source.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with his European counterparts on steps that could be taken to reduce the UK's and other European countries' use of Russian oil and gas.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps the Government is taking to support the development of the infrastructure required to reduce dependency on oil and gas; and what discussions he has had with his international counterparts to ascertain the political will in other countries to reduce that dependency.

Greg Hands: Energy security is an absolute priority for this Government. My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy regularly discusses this with G7 and European partners. The current volatility in global oil and gas prices only underscores the importance of building strong, home-grown renewables sectors and reducing reliance on fossil fuels, including Russian hydrocarbons.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Sir Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what comparative assessment his Department has made of the cost of delivering an annual covid-19 vaccination programme in pill format and administered by injection; and if he will make statement.

George Freeman: At present the Government is not aware of any Covid-19 vaccines in pill format under consideration for regulatory authorisation by the MHRA. As such, no such assessment of the cost of a vaccine in pill format has been made.

Research: Finance

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the reasons for the regional disparities in Private Non Profit R&D funding in 2019 in the ONS dataset Gross domestic expenditure on research and development, by region; and what steps he is taking to help increase the proportion of Private Non Profit R&D investment outside the Greater South East.

George Freeman: We recognise the important role that the private non-profit sector, such as charities, play in both funding and performing R&D. In 2019, the private non-profit sector funded £1,766 million worth of R&D and performed £843 million of R&D. The Greater South East contributes the highest share of private non-profit expenditure on R&D, with 84% of total expenditure in 2019 vs 16% for outside of the region. The Levelling Up White Paper shows that we are committed to increasing total investment in R&D across the whole of the UK, of which private non-profit R&D is an important element.

Investment: Regional Planning and Development

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to statement on page 170 of the Levelling Up White Paper that the additional Government investment will seek to leverage twice as much private sector investment over the long term, what baseline figure for leveraging private sector investment was used for that commitment; and what time period is meant by over the long term.

George Freeman: In setting the R&D mission, BEIS referred to published research on leverage, which found that we expect public R&D to leverage at least £2 of private R&D funding for every £1 of public R&D expenditure over the long term. This is based on a 2020 study published by BEIS and conducted by Oxford Economics, which estimates that each £1 of public R&D investment eventually stimulates between £1.96 and £2.34 of private R&D investment, the study found that almost all leverage is realised within 15 years. BEIS is working with DLUHC and other government departments on measuring and reporting on missions in the Levelling Up White Paper and further detail will be made available in due course.

Vaccine Manufacturing and Innovation Centre

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether Innovate UK has exercised its right to become a voting member of VMIC UK Ltd.

George Freeman: Innovate UK is not a voting member of the VMIC UK Ltd Board of Directors. It holds observer status on the Board.

Northern Ireland Office

Northern Ireland Office: Social Media

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how much his Department spent on social media advertising in (a) 2019, (b) 2020, (c) 2021 and (d) 2022 up to and including 28 February; and on which platforms that money was spent.

Conor Burns: The Northern Ireland Office regularly publishes a breakdown of departmental spending as part of our transparency publishing commitments. These publications cover invoices with a value of £25k or more. This includes spend on campaign advertising, covering social media advertising. Please see the NIO Transparency Data November 2020 for an item on campaign advertising spend.

Department of Health and Social Care

Coronavirus: Stockport

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his timetable is for rolling out the spring covid-19 booster vaccination for over-75s in the borough of Stockport.

Maggie Throup: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Education: Health Professions

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Education on workforce planning for healthcare professionals who work in education settings.

Edward Argar: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Coronavirus: Disease Control

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the main principles of covid-19 infection control will be from March 2022.

Maggie Throup: The wider infection prevention and control strategy, including the main principles of COVID-19 infection control from March 2022, are under review and will be informed by emerging science and data.As a part of living sustainably with COVID-19, by 1 April the Government will publish updated infection prevention and control (IPC) guidance. This will replace current COVID-19 IPC guidance for care homes, home care and other adult social care services.

Coronavirus: Screening

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress his Department has made on reviewing all covid-19 (a) PCR and (b) lateral flow antigen tests, which it is required to complete by 28 February 2022 under regulation 39A of the Medical Devices Regulations 2002.

Maggie Throup: As of 28 February 2022, we received 214 applications for approval, with 31 being successful. Of these, 21 approvals were for extracted molecular tests of which 20 were polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests and one LAMP test, seven were direct molecular PCR tests, two lateral flow device antigen tests and one oral fluid test.There is no requirement for reviews to have been completed by 28 February 2022. This date refers to a temporary protocol which applied from 1 November 2021 to 28 February 2022, permitting tests to stay on the market pending the outcome of their review. Two new protocols took effect from 1 March 2022.

NHS Trusts: Management Consultants

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much NHS trusts in England spent on management consultants in 2020-21.

Edward Argar: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Protective Clothing: Finance

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 21 February 2022 to Question 121768 on Protective Clothing: Finance, in which sub-category of the total £8.7bn write down reported in the Department's annual accounts for 2020-21 were the items of PPE supplied by Ayanda and Pestfix included.

Edward Argar: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Coronavirus: Screening

Dr Luke Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to (a) monitor and (b) tackle potential market distortions in the sale of covid-19 lateral flow tests.

Maggie Throup: The Government is engaging with retailers to support the development of a strong private market for testing. Further information will be made available in due course. We will ensure that private lateral flow device (LFD) testing is appropriately regulated in line with comparable products. Manufacturers and retailers of devices will have autonomy to set pricing for sales of LFDs. It is in the interest of the manufacturers and retailers to set affordable prices so that a private market exists and flourishes.

Kidney Diseases: Health Services

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether kidney disease is included in the Government’s initiative on reducing health inequalities, Core20PLUS5.

Edward Argar: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Coronavirus: Screening

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much of his Department's budget is planned to be allocated to funding covid-19 community testing and surveillance studies.

Maggie Throup: The Spending Review 2021 confirmed £9.6 billion for COVID-19 programmes and related health spending, including testing. Detailed business planning is underway to prioritise COVID-19 expenditure therefore specific funding allocations for community testing and surveillance studies have not yet been agreed.

Public Health: Investment

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans his department has to (a) maintain recurrent investment in health security infrastructure and (b) ensure the continuation of the innovative Integrated Covid Hub North East.

Maggie Throup: Work is underway to determine specific investment in COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 health security activities. Future funding will be considered as part of wider decisions on prioritisation of health security spending. However, many of the services provided by the Hub will cease in common with other testing and tracing services. The UK Health Security Agency’s regional teams will work with the Hub to consider its role in future health surveillance.

Schools: Coronavirus

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he is taking steps to fast track the covid-19 booster vaccination programme for schools in January 2021.

Maggie Throup: Children aged 12 years old and over are receiving COVID-19 vaccinations in schools through the School Age Immunisation Service and in community settings. At-risk children aged five to 12 years old who are prioritised for a primary course are being offered the vaccine in out of school settings.The booster vaccination campaign for 12 to 15 year olds most at risk from COVID-19 began in January 2022. In line with the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation’s advice, the booster dose is being offered to those clinically at-risk or those who live with someone who is immunosuppressed. Children in this age group who are severely immunosuppressed can receive their booster after a third primary dose. A booster vaccination programme for schools is not currently in operation given the low numbers of children currently eligible for booster doses and a proportion of at-risk children do not attend school onsite. Parents can book booster vaccinations for their child through the National Health Service booking system or use a walk-in site.

Carers: Finance

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of carers received paid support from local authorities in each year between 2010 and 2020.

Gillian Keegan: The mechanism used to collect this data has been in place since 2014/15. Prior to 2014/15, adult social care activity levels were reported through another mechanism and these datasets are not comparable.The following table shows the proportion of carers supported or assessed in receipt of paid local authority support in each year from 2014/15 to 2020/21.2014/1521%2015/1621%2016/1723%2017/1823%2018/1923%2019/2022%2020/2121% Source: Adult Social Care Activity and Finance Report The following table shows the proportion of carers offered an assessment or review in receipt of paid self-directed support and/or direct payments provided or commissioned by a local authority in each year from 2009/10 to 2013/14.2009/1010%2010/1113%2011/1214%2012/1317%2013/1420% Source: Adult Social Care Activity and Finance Report

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Bell Ribeiro-Addy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people have received covid-19 vaccinations at walk-in and pop-up clinics in London; how many of those people (a) did not have a NHS number and (b) were not registered with a GP; and if he will make a statement.

Maggie Throup: The information requested is not held centrally.

Coronavirus: Screening

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether GP surgeries and pharmacists will be able to administer covid-19 tests after March 2022.

Maggie Throup: From 1 April 2022, free access to asymptomatic and symptomatic tests for the public in England will end. Free tests will no longer be distributed by pharmacies, but some may choose to sell tests. Arrangements for testing in the National Health Service, including general practitioner surgeries, will be announced shortly.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 28 February 2022 to Question 126896, on Coronavirus: Vaccination, what further evidence the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation requires to (a) make its recommendation and (b) mitigate risk for people who are unable to use current vaccines in the covid-19 programme.

Maggie Throup: The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) will make a recommendation in due course. Based on the available evidence, the JCVI is currently considering how to address the needs of individuals who have been advised that they have a medical contraindication to the available COVID-19 vaccines.

Coronavirus: Screening

Mr Steve Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of 23 February 2022 to Question 125137 on Coronavirus: Screening, what number of validated PCR tests is in use in the NHS.

Maggie Throup: Currently there are nine validated polymerase chain reaction tests used in the National Health Service as follows:- Abbott Alinity m SARS-COV-2 assay;- Abbott m2000 real time SARS-COV-2 assay;- Life Technologies (ThermoFisher) TaqPath Covid assay;- Hologic Panther Aptima SARS-COV-2 assay;- Cepheid GeneXpert;- Roche Cobas Liat;- DNA Nudge;- PrimerDesign PROmate; and- Roche Cobas.Since 31 December 2021, we no longer nationally procure DNA Nudge. From 31 March 2022 we will no longer nationally procure Primer Design PROmate. NHS trusts may also locally procure tests which would undergo local validation and verification before use, as part of their ISO 15189 accreditation.

Oral Tobacco: Sweden

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the article in International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Patterns of Smoking and Snus Use in Sweden: Implications for Public Health, published in November 2016, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the finding in that article that the availability and use of snus has been a major factor behind Sweden’s record-low prevalence of smoking.

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 15 December 2021 to Question 84415, on Oral Tobacco: Health Hazards, if he will publish his assessment of the reasons for the risks of adverse health outcomes caused by snus being far lower than smoking.

Maggie Throup: No formal assessment of the article has been made. The Department holds no assessment of adverse health outcomes caused by snus compared to smoking. Snus is banned in the United Kingdom and we have no plans to introduce additional tobacco products to the market. Alternative tobacco-free products are available, such as nicotine pouches.

NHS Covid Pass

Caroline Nokes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to extend the validity of a paper covid-19 pass beyond 30 days.

Maggie Throup: The NHS COVID Pass in digital and letter form is currently valid for 30 days as a protection measure against fraud. Expiration dates for the NHS COVID Pass will be kept under review.

Care Homes: Visits

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what consultation his Department undertook with (a) residents and (b) the families of residents in care homes, when forming the most recent guidance on care home visiting.

Gillian Keegan: Care homes visiting guidance was updated on 31 January 2022. This reflected feedback received during regular stakeholder meetings where potential changes to policy and guidance are discussed. The Relatives and Residents Association, Age UK and the Alzheimer’s Society attend our regular stakeholder meetings to represent the perspective of residents and families.The Department reviewed all guidance in September 2021 to ensure it meets the needs of the adult social care sector and care recipients. This included a series of focus groups with residents and families.

Health Services: Telephone Services

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate his Department has made of average telephone waiting times within Primary Care Networks.

Maria Caulfield: No estimate has been made.

Cancer: Patients

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce the number of missing cancer patients.

Maria Caulfield: We have committed to returning the number of people waiting over 62 days to start treatment to pre-pandemic levels and increase referrals by encouraging patients to come forward. The ‘Help us help you’ campaign is raising awareness of cancer symptoms and encourages those with symptoms to use the National Health Service.

Dementia

Caroline Ansell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to publish the updated National Dementia Strategy; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Keegan: We will be setting out plans for dementia in England later this year. Task and finish groups were established in late October 2021 to develop the strategy with stakeholders. We received the output of these groups in December 2021, which have been reviewed and are being refined into proposals and testing with people living with dementia and their carers.

HIV Infection: Ukraine

Florence Eshalomi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had recent discussions with the (a) NHS and (b) World Health Organisation on providing medicines to Ukraine for people living with HIV during the Russian invasion of that country.

Maggie Throup: There are regular discussions on a wide range of issues including the need to provide medicines to those affected in Ukraine. The United Kingdom is working with the World Health Organization and other international partners to address the health impacts of the crisis in Ukraine.

Vaccination: Coronavirus

Sir Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what research his Department has undertaken on the potential link between covid-19 vaccine resistance and needle phobias; and whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of (a) oral or (b) nasal ingestion of that vaccine to increase take-up; and if he will make a statement.

Maggie Throup: The Department commissions research through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The NIHR is not currently supporting specific research on vaccine hesitancy and needle phobias. However, the NIHR and UK Research and Innovation have co-funded research on oral and nasal ingestion of the COVID-19 vaccine. Approximately £580,000 was awarded to Imperial College London for a study on two candidate vaccines administered to the respiratory tract. The NIHR is also providing infrastructure support to two phase one studies in this area through the University of Oxford and Imperial College London.

Coronavirus: Quarantine

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the impact of removing the requirement for self-isolation for people with a positive covid-19 diagnosis on the health of people with long-term conditions at a high risk from covid-19.

Maggie Throup: In line with the Public Sector Equality Duty, the Department must consider the impact of policy decisions on protected groups when changes to legislation are made. In the case of the self-isolation regulations, this was done alongside public health considerations ahead of the decision to remove these regulations.As of 24 February 2022, those who test positive for COVID-19 are no longer legally required to self-isolate. However, individuals with any of the main symptoms or a positive test result are advised to stay at home and avoid contact with other people.The Government’s objective is to enable COVID-19 to be managed in a similar way to other respiratory illnesses, while minimising mortality and retaining the ability to respond if a new and more dangerous variant emerges. This is due to the success of the vaccination programme and pharmaceutical tools available to treat people who are most vulnerable to COVID-19.

Evusheld

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if the NHS will make available Evusheld as a preventative covid-19 treatment for people who are immunosuppressed.

Maggie Throup: Whilst Evusheld is not currently authorised for use in the United Kingdom, the Government continues to monitor the emerging data for the treatment.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Sir Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what is the total per patient cost to the NHS from commissioning to delivery of administering via injection two doses of the covid-19 vaccine ; and if he will make a statement.

Maggie Throup: As of October 2021, the National Audit Office estimates that the total average deployment cost of two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine for the National Health Service is £51.40 in England.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Sir Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to allocate funding to support research into next generation covid-19 vaccinations that can be administered orally and nasally; and if he will make statement.

Maggie Throup: The Department commissions research through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The NIHR and UK Research and Innovation have co-funded research on oral and nasal ingestion of the COVID-19 vaccine. Approximately £580,000 was awarded to Imperial College London for a study on two candidate vaccines administered to the respiratory tract. The NIHR is also providing infrastructure support to two phase one studies in this area through the University of Oxford and Imperial College London. The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including alternative vaccine delivery methods.

Care Homes: Coronavirus

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the monthly cost of covid-19 lateral flow device testing for a person visiting a care home resident on a daily basis once mass free testing has ended.

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the cost of removing free covid-19 lateral flow device tests for care providers and their staff.

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the cost of removing free covid-19 lateral flow device tests on unpaid carers.

Maggie Throup: While universal free provision of lateral flow device tests will end from 1 April 2022, it will continue to be maintained for symptomatic vulnerable individuals, particularly in health and care settings. The Government is considering eligibility for testing and will provide further information in due course. No specific assessment on the costs for those visiting a care home resident, care providers and their staff, and unpaid carers has been made.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of administering the covid-19 vaccine with aspiration.

Maggie Throup: No specific assessment has been made. The UK Health Security Agency’s guidance on immunisation techniques states that it is not necessary to aspirate the syringe after the needle is introduced into the muscle as there are no large blood vessels at the recommended injection sites. This is also consistent with the Summary of Product Characteristics for the COVID-19 vaccines approved by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. As with all recommendations for vaccine administration, this recommendation is kept under review in line with the latest available evidence.

General Practitioners: Labour Turnover

Bell Ribeiro-Addy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase (a) recruitment and (b) retention of GPs in (i) Streatham and (ii) London.

Maria Caulfield: We are working with NHS England and NHS Improvement, Health Education England and the profession to increase the general practice workforce in England, including in London. We have increased the number of general practitioner (GP) training places and in 2021/22, 4,000 doctors accepted a place on GP training – an increase from 2,671 in 2014.The updated GP Contract Framework announced new retention schemes and continued support for existing schemes for the general practice workforce. These include the GP Retention Scheme, the International Induction Programme, the Return to Practice Programme, the Fellowship Programme, the New to Partnership Payment and Supporting Mentors Scheme.South East London Clinical Commissioning Group is working with the Lambeth Together Training Hub to support the recruitment and retention of staff in GP practices. These include peer-to-peer support groups, protected learning time events and support for workforce planning to recruit additional roles such as mental health practitioners, physician associates and social prescribers.

Integrated Care Systems: Dentistry

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that dental professionals are adequately (a) represented and (b) involved during decisions on that profession's services under the new Integrated Care Structures.

Maria Caulfield: The introduction of integrated care systems, consisting of an integrated care board (ICB) and integrated care partnership, will strengthen partnerships between National Health Service, dental care and local authorities, and with local partners, including Local Dental Networks. As a minimum, ICBs will include a chair, chief executive and representatives from NHS trusts, primary care and local authorities. Local areas will have the flexibility to determine further representation.‘Building strong integrated care systems everywhere: ICS implementation guidance on effective clinical and care professional leadership’ sets out how system leaders should ensure that the full range of clinical and care professionals are involved in decision-making at every level of their system. This guidance is available at the following link:B0664-ics-clinical-and-care-professional-leadership.pdf (england.nhs.uk)

General Practitioners: Contracts

Bell Ribeiro-Addy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the definition of meeting reasonable needs in the GMS contract is; and what steps his Department takes in the event that the level of demand on general practice is deemed to be unreasonable.

Maria Caulfield: Under the GP Contract, contractors must provide essential services. The Contract defines essential services as those services which practices must provide to meet the ‘reasonable needs’ of their registered and temporary patients in core hours. This includes providing consultations, referrals and ongoing treatment and care as necessary and appropriate. This places broad responsibilities on practices while allowing a level of clinical discretion to determine how to meet patients’ reasonable needs. Clinical commissioning groups are also responsible for monitoring and responding to demands placed on general practitioners and their teams.

Dementia: Research

Holly Mumby-Croft: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021, how much and what proportion of the additional funding for health research and development his Department plans to allocate to improving understanding of the (a) causes, (b) prevention and (c) treatment of dementia.

Maria Caulfield: Funding for dementia research is provided through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). The NIHR and UKRI rely on researchers submitting high-quality applications to access funding, therefore details of allocations are not currently available. All applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality.

General Practitioners: Labour Turnover

Bell Ribeiro-Addy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will make an assessment of the impact of pressures resulting from the covid-19 outbreak on GP staff retention in (a) Streatham, (b) London and (c) England.

Maria Caulfield: We have made £520 million available to improve access and expand general practice capacity during the pandemic, including in London. We are continuing to assess the impact of the pandemic on general practice staff retention and working with NHS England and NHS Improvement and the profession to support general practitioners and improve their working environment.

Cancer: Screening

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to make the new single test for detecting risk of four cancers in women available on the NHS.

Maria Caulfield: The WID-Test is still at a research stage. If large population trials prove successful, the test will be referred to the UK National Screening Committee.

Doctors' List of Patients

Bell Ribeiro-Addy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the (a) average, (b) highest and (c) lowest patient list sizes have been per FTE GP working in general practice under (i) GMS and (ii) APMS contracts in (A) Streatham, (B) London and (C) England in each year since 2010.

Bell Ribeiro-Addy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what (a) research and (b) analysis of patient list sizes per FTE GP working in general practice his Department has (i) commissioned and (ii) considered in determining safe operating levels for patients accessing in general practice services.

Maria Caulfield: The information requested on patient list size is not held centrally.As self-employed contractors, it is for general practitioner (GP) practices to determine the appropriate workforce, including the number and range of health professionals necessary to respond to the needs of their patients. There is no recommendation for how many patients should be assigned to a GP. This can be affected by various factors, including rurality and patient demographics. No further analysis is currently being undertaken.

General Practitioners: Harassment

Bell Ribeiro-Addy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will make an assessment of the impact of pressures resulting from the covid-19 outbreak on the level of abuse experienced by GP staff in (a) Streatham, (b) London and (c) England.

Maria Caulfield: While we have no plans to make a formal assessment, we have a zero-tolerance approach to abuse and harassment. We are investing in better security at general practitioner surgeries and working with the National Health Service to ensure primary care workers are supported.The local clinical commissioning group and the Lambeth Together Training Hub regularly engage with practices in Streatham and have recently provided dedicated training for primary care staff on dealing with these situations.

Bile Duct Cancer

Peter Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to raise awareness of the early signs and symptoms of cholangiocarcinoma.

Maria Caulfield: The second phase of the ‘Help us help you’ campaign between November 2020 and January 2021 focussed on abdominal symptoms which could indicate a range of cancers, including bile duct cancer. A new awareness campaign launched in March 2022 on tackling barriers to seeking treatment.

Dementia: Research

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether it is Government policy to double dementia research funding.

Maria Caulfield: The Government has committed to invest £375 million in neurodegenerative disease research over the next five years to fund projects into a range of diseases including dementia. We will set out plans on dementia in England later this year, including for dementia research.

Department of Health and Social Care: Written Questions

Holly Lynch: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to provide a substantive Answer to Question 112622, tabled on 26 January 2022.

Edward Argar: I refer the hon. Member to the answer to Question 112622.

General Practitioners: Telephone Services

Bell Ribeiro-Addy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether officials in his Department have had discussions with representatives of professional bodies for GPs and general practice staff on the volume of calls by call handlers at the national 119 and 111 services that have incorrectly directed patients to their GP practices instead of to national or secondary services.

Edward Argar: No recent discussions have taken place.

Kidney Diseases: Health Services

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent progress he has made on the renal services transformation programme.

Edward Argar: The recommendations from the Getting It Right First Time speciality report on renal medicine, published in September 2021, have been accepted and are being implemented by the Renal Services Transformation Programme (RSTP). The RSTP has appointed five expert renal clinical leads and established four clinical workstreams improving access, identifying best practice and developing solutions in chronic kidney disease (CKD), acute kidney injury, dialysis and transplants.NHS England and NHS Improvement have established 11 renal clinical networks which are finalising workplans and determining local priorities identified nationally through the Programme. Guidelines have been produced in collaboration with NHS England and NHS Improvement’s National Outpatients Transformation Programme focusing on specialist advice in renal services and an approach to implement personalised care follow up for CKD and transplant patients.

Ambulance Services: Emergency Calls

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish a list of each regional call centre that handles emergency calls to ambulance services in England.

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what was the average waiting time for answering an emergency call to ambulance services (a) nationally and (b) by regional ambulance emergency call centre on a (i) Friday night and (ii) Saturday night in each of the last 5 years.

Edward Argar: The information requested is not held centrally. Average monthly call answer times by ambulance trust are published by NHS England and NHS Improvement at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/ambulance-quality-indicators/

Department of Health and Social Care: Written Questions

Holly Lynch: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to provide a substantive Answer to Question 108576, tabled on 20 January 2022.

Edward Argar: I refer the hon. Member to the answer to Question 108576.

Dysphagia

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to mark Swallowing Awareness Day on 16 March.

Gillian Keegan: While the Department has no specific plans to mark Swallowing Awareness Day, we recognise the importance of raising awareness of the impact that swallowing difficulties. Speech and Language Therapists can provide support to enable people to manage and recover their ability to swallow.

Care Homes: Coronavirus

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether people who need to access covid-19 lateral flow tests for the purposes of visiting care home residents will be given assistance in acquiring those tests.

Gillian Keegan: The regular asymptomatic testing regime in adult social care after 1 April 2022 is currently under review and we will set out further details in due course. Until 1 April, testing for visitors to care homes should currently align with current guidance on testing in care homes.

Dementia

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the timetable is for the (a) publication and (b) delivery of the Government’s new national dementia strategy.

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what budget his Department has allocated for the delivery of the Government’s new national dementia strategy.

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent progress his Department has made on its work on the Government’s new national dementia strategy; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Keegan: We will set out our plans on dementia for England later this year. The strategy will focus on the specific health and care needs of people living with dementia and their carers, including dementia diagnosis, risk reduction and prevention and research. We established task and finish groups in October 2021 to develop the strategy with stakeholders. We are reviewing the outcomes of these groups to develop into proposals with people living with dementia and their carers. Information on the budget allocated to the strategy is not held in the format requested. Work on the dementia strategy involves budgets across multiple teams within the Department, including those focused on dementia policy, research and prevention. We are also considering the funding implications of the strategy as part of current business planning for the next financial year.

Kidney Diseases and Mental Health

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the impact of kidney disease on an individual's mental health will be included in the Government’s Strategy on Mental Health.

Gillian Keegan: The Department plans to launch a public discussion paper this year to inform the development of a new longer term mental health strategy. The mental health and wellbeing of people with multiple and other long-term conditions will be in scope for the discussion paper.

Social Services: Costs

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to determine fair and sustainable costs of care, in the event that there is significant cost variation among local authorities conducting a cost of care exercise.

Gillian Keegan: Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities are responsible for managing local care markets and determining fee rates for providers. The Act states that fee levels should be appropriate to provide the agreed quality of care, enable providers to effectively support care users, invest in staff development, innovation and improvement.We are committing £1.4 billion to support local authorities to move towards paying providers a fair cost of care. The average cost of care, how far local authorities will move towards it, and the cost of doing so, will vary according to their starting point, local market circumstances and local pressures. Local authorities must set out their plans for driving market sustainability and report to the Department on how the funding is being used.

Social Services: Energy

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the impact of the rise in energy prices on care providers.

Gillian Keegan: No specific assessment has been made. The Local Government Finance Settlement makes available an additional £3.7 billion to councils, an increase of over 4.5% in real terms in 2022/23. This will ensure councils have the resources to deliver key services and respond to pressures facing the adult social care sector.

Care Homes: Coronavirus

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that covid-19 isolation requirements for residents of care homes are in line with national guidelines.

Gillian Keegan: From 31 January 2022, we reduced the isolation period for care home residents from 14 days to 10 days. Isolation periods for care homes residents can be reduced further through regular testing. While most care recipients in adult social care are vaccinated, care home residents are still at a greater risk of hospitalisation and death from COVID-19 relative to the general population, and the transmission risk remains high in vulnerable settings due to the kind of close contact care individuals receive.The Department will review the remaining measures in place in adult social care settings over the coming weeks and will publish updated Infection Prevention Control guidance by 1 April to set out the next phase of the response in adult social care.

Medical Records: Ethnic Groups

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Data saves lives White Paper on improving data collection by ethnicity.

Gillian Keegan: An Equality Impact Assessment was completed for Data saves lives, the data strategy for health and social care. The strategy sets the vision for better use of data across the health and care system and that includes the better collection and linkage of data to identify, measure and act on health disparities where they occur, including those relating to ethnicity.

Global Health Insurance Card

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what criteria are used to choose those selected for residency checks while applying for a UK Global Health Insurance Card; what assessment his Department has been made of the equity of those criteria; and whether a ministerial direction was issued in determining those criteria.

Edward Argar: Applications for United Kingdom Global Health Insurance Cards (GHIC) are processed by the NHS Business Services Authority under the Healthcare (European Economic Area and Switzerland Arrangements) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019. Applicants may be eligible for a GHIC if they are ordinarily resident in the UK and they do not have healthcare cover provided by a European Union country or Switzerland. UK residency was also an eligibility requirement under the previous European Health Insurance Card system.To verify applications, the NHS Business Service Authority shares information with Indesser to establish a UK residential address. If an applicant’s residential address cannot be verified, the NHS Business Service Authority will request further evidence from the applicant. There is a wide range of documents which may be used to provide this evidence. This supports all eligible applicants in demonstrating their entitlement and no-one is disadvantaged. Applicants are asked to provide two of the following documents:- one or more different utility service bills dated within the last three months;- a local authority council tax bill dated for the current financial year;- a valid housing association, council tenancy letter or rent agreement;- a benefit award notice dated within the last three months;- a letter from HM Revenue and Customs dated within the last three months;- a bank, building society or credit union statement or passbook dated within the last three months;- an electoral register entry dated for the current financial year;- a letter from hospital or general practitioner on headed paper dated within the last three months;- a mortgage statement from a recognised lender dated within the last three months;- an HM Revenue and Customs self-assessment letter or tax demand dated for the current financial year; and- a solicitor’s letter dated within the last three months that shows a recent house purchase or land registry including the address. Applicants may also send alternative evidence showing their full name and address. The residency check was introduced to ensure that taxpayers’ money is spent on those who are eligible under the reciprocal healthcare agreements. There are no Ministerial Directions which relate to GHIC evidential requirements.

Health Services: Waiting Lists

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish a breakdown of the NHS elective care backlog by (a) disease and (b) condition.

Edward Argar: This information is not available in the format requested. However, the National Health Service publishes monthly referral to treatment data by specialty for all providers and commissioners.

Nurses: Stockport

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the impact of the removal of the nursing bursary on the recruitment of nurses in Stockport since that bursary ended.

Edward Argar: No assessment has been made. As of November 2021, 1,326 nurses are employed at Stockport NHS Foundation Trust - an increase of 127 or 10.6% since November 2020.The Government has committed to delivering 50,000 more nurses in England by the end of this Parliament. This will be achieved through a combination of improving the domestic training pipelines, international recruitment and focusing on retention of existing staff. We have made available non-repayable training grants to eligible nurses worth at least £5,000 per year.

Coronavirus: Employment

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it the policy of the Government that people dismissed from their employment by reason of having refused to be vaccinated against covid-19 should be eligible for compensation in the event that they are not offered re-employment in their former employer.

Edward Argar: The regulations to make vaccination a condition of entry in all Care Quality Commission-regulated care homes came into force on 11 November 2021. Employers which ensured they only deployed vaccinated staff in care homes, unless exempt, were complying with the law at the time. The Government will therefore not offer compensation to unvaccinated staff who were dismissed or chose to leave the care home workforce.Following the announcement of the Government’s intention to revoke vaccination as a condition of deployment in all health and social care settings, it is sensible for employers not to serve notice to termination on those staff in wider health and social care settings who would be unable to comply with the regulations.

Integrated Care Boards

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has plans to provide guidance to the new integrated care system bodies on how to take due consideration of feedback from health providers, including community pharmacy.

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to provide guidance to the new integrated care system bodies on how to take due consideration of feedback from health providers, including community pharmacy.

Edward Argar: The Bill intends to build on the work of existing non-statutory integrated care systems (ICSs) by establishing integrated care boards (ICBs) and requiring the creation of integrated care partnerships (ICPs) in each local system area.The ICP engagement document, published in September 2021, reiterated the importance of health providers contributing to ICBs and ICPs. We would expect ICPs to have input from clinical and professional experts, including primary, community and secondary care to ensure a strong understanding of local needs and opportunities to innovate health improvements. NHS England will produce guidance for ICBs. Its design framework states that primary care, including community pharmacy, should be represented and involved in decision-making at all levels.

Hospitals: Trauma

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what effect the Hospitals Transformation Programme will have on the treatment of trauma patients.

Edward Argar: The Hospital Transformation Programme will consolidate accident and emergency (A&E) and trauma services at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, with an A&E Local in the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford. Trauma patients will benefit from earlier and improved access to specialist and multidisciplinary teams. There will be a reduced need for unnecessary secondary ambulance transfers and higher quality of care and better outcomes, including mortality rate and morbidity through reducing delays to appropriate care. Once patients are stable the model will also enable transfers to a location closer to home and the creation of a consolidated trauma service to attract and retain high quality workforce across the required specialities and at all staff levels.

Coronavirus: Screening

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to ensure that local authority directors of public health can access supplies of free covid-19 lateral flow tests after 1 April 2022 to provide them to council employees visiting vulnerable people in the course of carrying out their duties.

Maggie Throup: Free access to asymptomatic and symptomatic tests for the public in England will end from 1 April 2022. We will continue to make testing available for a small number of at-risk groups. Further details on eligible groups will be made available in due course. We will continue to review the impact of COVID-19 policies on vulnerable people and those who visit them.

Coronavirus: Screening

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of continuing to provide free covid-19 lateral flow testing for (a) clinically extremely vulnerable people, (b) their immediate relatives and (c) household members beyond April 2022.

Maggie Throup: Free access to asymptomatic and symptomatic tests for the public in England will end from 1 April 2022. We will continue to make testing available for a small number of at-risk groups. Further details on eligible groups will be made available in due course. We will continue review the impact of our COVID-19 policies those who are clinically extremely vulnerable, their immediate relatives and household members.

Wales Office

Railways: Wales

Christina Rees: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, on what date the Government will release funding for the Global Centre for Rail Excellence in Wales.

Simon Hart: As announced at last year’s spending review, the Global Centre of Rail Excellence (GCRE) will receive up to £30 million for a new, world-class rail technology and innovation centre. Funding for GCRE will be released at the appropriate times between 2022-23 and 2023-24, as agreed between the UK Government, the Welsh Government and GCRE.

Refugees: Ukraine

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what discussions he has had with the Welsh Government on potential financial support available for the resettlement and welcome of refugees fleeing Ukraine.

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, whether he has had recent discussions with the Welsh Government on UK Government financial support for Wales to assist with resettlement of Ukrainian refugees in that country.

Simon Hart: Representatives from across Government meet frequently with colleagues in the Welsh Government and across the Devolved Administrations to update them on a number of matters, including the handling of the current Ukrainian crisis. Given this is a constantly evolving matter, we are keeping under review how best the UK Government can support refugees fleeing Ukraine and how we allocate financial resource to do so. At the same time, we have been working at pace to launch the Ukraine Family Scheme and it is now open for extended family members to apply.

Refugees: Ukraine

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, whether he has met representatives of the Welsh Local Government Association to discuss financial support to welcome refugees from Ukraine.

Simon Hart: Representatives from across Government meet frequently with colleagues in the Welsh Local Government Association to update them on a number of matters, including the handling of the current Ukrainian crisis. Given this is a constantly evolving matter, we are keeping under review how best the UK Government can support refugees fleeing Ukraine and how we allocate financial resource to do so. At the same time, we have been working at pace to launch the Ukraine Family Scheme and it is now open for extended family members to apply.

Department for Education

Children and Young People: Ukraine

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will issue guidance to (a) nurseries and other childcare contexts, (b) schools, (c) colleges, and (d) universities, on welcoming and supporting children and young people who are refugees and asylum seekers from Ukraine.

Mr Robin Walker: The government has a long and proud history of supporting refugees in their time of need, and we want to be as generous as we possibly can. Work is underway across government departments, and with charities and local authorities to ensure refugees and asylum seekers from Ukraine are properly supported so they can rebuild their lives.On 25 February, the department posted on our Education Hub directing teachers and families who are seeking advice to resources on Educate Against Hate that could be of use in the classroom or for families and young people themselves: https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2022/02/25/help-for-teachers-and-families-to-talk-to-pupils-about-russias-invasion-of-ukraine-and-how-to-help-them-avoid-misinformation/?utm_source=1%20March%202022%20C19&utm_medium=Daily%20Email%20C19&utm_campaign=DfE%20C19.Further detail on the support we provide to those we bring to the UK, will be made available in due course.

Department for Education: Social Media

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much his Department spent in total on social media advertising in (a) 2019, (b) 2020, (c) 2021 and (d) 2022 as of 28 February 2022; and on which platforms that money was spent.

Michelle Donelan: Every year, the department runs a range of campaigns to support essential work, including recruiting and retaining teachers and social workers, increasing awareness of the full range of opportunities available for young people when they leave school and for adults looking to retrain or boost their skills. The department uses paid media channels to target audiences who will take up these opportunities or training.The information on spend is only available in financial years rather than calendar years. To cover as much of the period requested as possible, social media spend is included for the following financial years: a) 2018/19, b) 2019/20, c) 2020/21 and d) 2021/22. For 2021/22, information is currently only available for April to December 2021.The department’s total spend on social media was as follows:Financial yearTotal spend2018/19£2,471,7092019/20£2,513,3282020/21£2,351,3682021/22 (April-December 2021 only)£1,735,055 In 2018/19 and 2019/20 the channels used were Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Snapchat and Twitter. In 2020/21 and 2021/22 the channels used were Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Snapchat, Twitter and YouTube.All spend information over £25,000 is available to view here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cabinet-office-spend-data.

Children: Social Services

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the Government is taking steps to support local authorities to improve collection and storage of children’s services data.

Will Quince: Local authorities record and store children’s services data in digital case management systems they procure from the market. Our Children’s Social Care Digital Programme has worked with local authorities and case management system suppliers to develop guidance, which will be published shortly. It aims to support local authority planning, procurement and implementation of case management systems.We are also working across government on how data and technology can be used to enable better multi-agency information sharing in safeguarding, including an investigation study on the feasibility of adopting a consistent child identifier.

Ministry of Justice

Drugs: Misuse

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) total and (b) effective trials there were for the production, supply and possessions with intent to supply of class A drugs in each of the last five years.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) total and (b) effective trials for murder there were in each of the last five years.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) total and (b) effective trials there were for the (i) rape of, (ii) sexual assault of and (iii) sexual activity with a child under the age of 13 in each of the last five years.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) total and (b) effective trials for (i) rape and (ii) sexual offences excluding rape there were, in each of the last five years.

James Cartlidge: The attached table provides total listed trial and effective trial estimates at the Crown Court for the requested offences in England and Wales for 12 months to September 2017 – 2021.Table (xlsx, 17.8KB)

Crown Court: Trials

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many days it took in each of the last five years on a (a) mean and (b) median basis for an initially ineffective crown court trial to be assigned a successful new court date.

James Cartlidge: An ineffective trial is a trial that does not go ahead on the scheduled trial date and a further listing is required. This can be due to action or inaction by one or more of the prosecution, the defence or the court. Here we define the ‘successful’ court date to be the start date of an effective trial. A trial is recorded as effective once a jury is sworn in, regardless of whether they then go on to reach a verdict We do not hold data centrally on how long it takes ineffective trials to be assigned a successful new court date. We have instead therefore supplied data showing the average time from the date of the ineffective trial to the effective trial starting in each case where an earlier trial was ineffective. This is not the same as the time between a trial being ineffective and then being assigned a new hearing date. That time would be far shorter than the results below.Mean and median time from ineffective trial date to effective trial starting where an earlier trial was ineffective, Crown CourtEFFECTIVE TRIAL YEARMEAN DAYSMEDIAN DAYS2017131103201812295201910160202010637202111821 The median provides the best representation of the typical case, as means will be skewed by extreme values. The table above shows that the median time from the ineffective trial date to an effective trial starting has decreased significantly over the last 5 years, falling from 103 days in 2017 to 21 days in 2021, a reduction of 80%.We continue to take action to tackle the impact the pandemic has had on our courts and tribunals system. We invested a quarter of a billion pounds to support recovery in the last financial year (20/21). In the recent Spending Review, more than £1 billion has been allocated to boost capacity and accelerate recovery from the pandemic in courts and tribunals. This increased funding will enable us to hear more cases and reduce backlogs. We removed the limit on the number of days the Crown Court can sit in the 21/22 financial year and as a result of this, in the next financial year we expect to get through 20% more Crown Court cases than we did pre-Covid (116,700 in 22/23 compared to 97,000 in 19/20).

Courts: Victims and Witnesses

Ellie Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, by what date his Department plans to have completed the rollout of section 28 measures; and if he will list the courts that will be included in that rollout.

James Cartlidge: We successfully rolled out Section 28 (s.28) of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act (YJCEA) for all vulnerable complainants and witnesses, such as children and adults with a physical or mental impairment, in all Crown Courts by November 2020.S.28 is currently available for complainants of sexual and modern-day slavery offences in seven Crown Courts: Leeds, Liverpool, Kingston upon Thames Harrow, Isleworth, Wood Green, and Durham. We will be extending s.28 for this cohort to all Crown Courts in England and Wales as soon as practicable.

Prison Officers: Menopause

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 3 November 2021 to Question 63830, on Prison Officers: Menopause, what assessment she has made of the validity of the Equality Assessment for Fitness Testing in the context of further specialist medical advice.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 3 November 2021 to Question 63830, on Prison Officers: Menopause, what further support is being offered to menopausal staff (a) in general and (b) in respect of the fitness test.

Victoria Atkins: 1. PQ 135588The HMPPS annual fitness test policy allows for an alternative fitness test for prison officers with an underlying medical condition, injury or suffering from any specific side effects relating to the menopause.HMPPS published a new Fitness Test policy and toolkit in November 2021 which outlines the support for employees to pass the test through the line manager, fitness testing team, establishment PE officers or referral to occupational health. The toolkit specifically gives information for staff displaying symptoms of peri menopause and menopause and the process for delaying the fitness test if required and relevant support available.Staff presenting with menopausal symptoms at their fitness test will require a holistic approach to ensure their safety and ability to undertake the test. The occupational health clinical context in conjunction with the Fitness Test policy takes into account an individual’s needs with impartiality and their functional capacity regarding ability to take the fitness test. This Fitness Test policy must be applied in a fair and equitable manner and in accordance with the Equality Act 2010 and to ensure compliance with the Public Sector Equality Duty.2. PQ 135589Information in relation to menopause has been added to the occupational health user guide with intranet links to the HMPPS fitness test policy and toolkit, HMPPS menopause toolkit, supporting the workplace in menopause (SWIM), championing women in the workplace group, employee assistance programme and occupational health.The OH provider has launched a workplace wellbeing platform which offers links to the above and articles, podcasts and information on menopause in the workplace and the available support both within the workplace and external information.

Prisoners: Location

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 2 of March 2022 to Question 129199 on Prisoners: Location, how have the distances provided been calculated.

Victoria Atkins: PQ129199 was answered using the following methodology. Information on a prisoner’s residence is provided by prisoners on reception into prison and recorded on a central IT system. If no reception address was given, a prisoner's home, discharge or next of kin address was used. If none of these were available, committal court address was used as a proxy to determine the area in which a prisoner is resident. Data for children (i.e. those aged under 18) was a snapshot average straight-line distance from origin address. It was based on the annual average running from April-March and is allocated against the end of the period (i.e. Apr10-Mar11 is plotted against 25/03/11). To avoid double-counting, 18-year-olds held in juvenile facilities were not included. For Young Adults, aged 18-20, data was a snapshot average straight-line distance from origin address on the given dates. It included prisoners aged 18 years in juvenile facilities (Feltham A, Parc unit, Cookham, Werrington, Wetherby). Adult (21+) data was a snapshot average straight-line distance from origin address. Straight-line modelling is the most consistent calculation method. Attempts to model based on travelling distance are subject to high levels of temporal and geographical variation (e.g. inner city travel time) which would distort high-level data and make inter-group comparison less meaningful.

Theft: Reoffenders

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many offenders imprisoned for acquisitive offences and subsequently released on license went on to commit further offences in each of the last ten years.

Kit Malthouse: The information requested is not held centrally and could not be collated without incurring disproportionate cost. The Prisons Strategy White Paper, published in December 2021, sets out this Government’s ambitious plans to reduce reoffending and protect the public. We will spend £200 million a year by 2024-25 to improve prison leavers’ access to accommodation, employment support and substance misuse treatment and further measures for early intervention to tackle youth offending. Our world- first Acquisitive Crime project imposes electronic trail monitoring on robbers, thieves and burglars who have to wear a GPS tag when they leave prison. The project now covers half of England and Wales and is testing the effectiveness of this technology to support probation supervision and the police to investigate further offences, we have undertaken to publish findings from the project evaluation.

Prisoners: Older People

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate his Department has made of the number of prisoners over (a) 50, (b) 60 and (c) 70 years old that will be held in prisons in England and Wales by (i) 2025 and (ii) 2030.

Victoria Atkins: Our latest prison population projections can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/prison-population-projections-2021-to-2026.Table 4.1 provides population projections broken down by age up until 2025. We do not have population projections broken down by age up to 2030.

Ministry of Justice: Social Clubs

Gareth Bacon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will provide a list of (a) professional staff networks and (b) social clubs operating within his Department; and if he will provide the (i) budgets and (ii) FTE staff time allocated to each group within each of the last three years.

James Cartlidge: Provide a list of (a) professional staff networks operating within his DepartmentMoJ corporate information pages about Equality and Diversity Equality and diversity - Ministry of Justice - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) provide details of most of the MoJ professional staff networks, offering support and advice to employees and senior leadership, which cover race, disability, gender, LGBTQI, faith, carers, job sharers, menopause, EU nationals, and parents. MoJ faith and belief networks include Christianity, Islam and Humanism. There is also a frontline staff network. MoJ also has communities of staff taking on advocacy and support roles including Race Ambassadors, a forum for those experiencing domestic violence, Bullying and Harassment Advisors, Mental Health Allies, a Green Group and People Champions. The larger MoJ Agencies including HMCTS, HMPPS, LAA and OPG have local subsidiaries of the main MoJ wide networks and staff communities.Provide a list of (b) social clubs operating within MoJThere is currently one recognised Social Club, JURA - the Justice Recreation Association - JURA Justice, that is open to all MoJ Staff, Agencies and ALBs. Members pay a subscription and is run by a team of volunteers.Provide the (i) budgets allocated to each group within each of the last three years.For cross MoJ staff networks, a notional, collective budget was accessible:2021-22 - £10,000.002020-21 - £10,000.002019-2020 - £0 Provide (ii) FTE staff time allocated to each group within each of the last three years. As part of our central MoJ Diversity, Inclusion and Wellbeing department, FTE 37.5 hours per week central support is provided to build the capability of our MoJ Staff Networks. Since 2020, MoJ Staff Network Chair Holders are permitted 8 hours per week allocated time in recognition of the work spent supporting networks as a corporate contribution. Where there is more than one chair, this time is allocated between them. Our agencies have adapted the same or similar approach.Staff allocated time for agency networks is largely in line apart from within HMPPS where the staff network leads are full-time roles FTE 37.5 hours a week.

Treasury

Business: Coronavirus

Virginia Crosbie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to recover funds that have been lost to fraud related to covid-19 support schemes.

John Glen: The Government has consistently stated that fraud is totally unacceptable, and we are taking action on multiple fronts to recover money lost to error and fraud and, where necessary, take legal action on those who have sought to exploit the COVID-19 support schemes. It was right to establish the schemes quickly and in a way that they could be accessed easily by the millions who needed support. Given the unprecedented efforts that the Government has made to protect jobs and livelihoods during this pandemic, it would have been impossible to prevent all related fraud. In designing the COVID-19 support schemes the Government followed the leading practice of the International Public Sector Fraud Forum on dealing with fraud in an emergency context. The dedicated Government Counter Fraud Function and Centre of Expertise re-prioritised its work to focus on COVID financial support schemes. It provided fraud risk assessment support, offered expert counter fraud advice and created data driven tools to Government Departments to help prevent, detect and recover fraud. The Fraud Function continues to offer post-event assurance support to Government Departments to find and fight fraud. Robust measures were put in place to control error and fraud in COVID-19 support schemes from their inception. For instance, to minimise the risk of fraud and error and unverified claims, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and Self-Employment Income Support Scheme were designed around existing data held on HMRC’s systems. To further bolster anti-fraud measures on HMRC-delivered COVID-19 support schemes, at the Spring Budget last year, the Government invested more than £100 million in a Taxpayer Protection Taskforce of more than 1,200 HMRC staff to combat COVID-19-related fraud. This Taskforce is expected to recover between £800 million and £1 billion from fraudulent or incorrect payments during 2021-22 and 2022-23. In addition, HMRC has so far stopped or recovered £743 million of overclaimed grants in 2020/21. In respect of the Bounce Back Loan Scheme, the Government continues to work closely with the British Business Bank, lenders and enforcement agencies to tackle fraud and to recover as many fraudulent loans as possible. This is on top of the £2.2 billion worth of fraudulent applications that were prevented by upfront checks. As part of the Spring Budget last year, we announced plans to significantly strengthen enforcement activity against fraudulent Bounce Back Loans, including new powers for the Insolvency Service to tackle rogue directors and investing in the National Investigation Service to investigate serious fraud. For local authority-administered business grants, local authorities are responsible for ensuring the safe administration of grants and that appropriate measures are put in place to mitigate against the increased risks of both fraud and payment error. Guidance for the grant schemes requires that local authorities have assurance plans in place which set out the steps they would take to minimise fraud. Government has mandated pre-payment checks (company and bank account searches) as well as post-event assurance, and a Fraud Risk Assessment. Where grants have been paid in error, non-compliantly or to a fraudster, local authorities must seek to recover these funds and return them to BEIS. If local authorities have been unable to reclaim the grant, the case may be referred to BEIS under the Debt Recovery Policy to establish the next steps.

Cryptocurrencies: Russia

Drew Hendry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to ensure robust regulatory mechanisms are in place for the sale and transfer of digital financial assets, including non-fungible tokens (NFTs), to prevent Russian organisations and individuals from evading sanctions relating to the war in Ukraine.

John Glen: Financial sanctions regulations do not differentiate between cryptoassets and other forms of assets. Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) guidance states that crypto assets are an economic resource and are caught by financial sanctions restrictions All persons in the UK are subject to the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018, and the circumvention of sanctions is a criminal offence. The financial sanctions regime is enforced by OFSI, working in cooperation with the National Crime Agency. Cryptoasset exchange providers, custodian wallet providers, electronic money institutions and payment service providers are in scope of the UK’s Money Laundering Regulations. These businesses must be registered with the Financial Conduct Authority for anti-money laundering supervision, and are expected to apply risk-sensitive customer due diligence measures in order to identify and verify the customer and understand the purpose behind their transactions. This includes checking that the customer is not subject to sanctions and does not intend to use the services for criminal purposes, including assisting others in the evasion of sanctions. In addition, the government will shortly publish a response to its recent consultation on creating a requirement for entities to collect, verify, transmit, and retain specified information about the beneficiary and originator of a transfer of cryptoassets, to assist in the prevention and detection of illicit financial transfers.

VTB Bank

Drew Hendry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the financial impact on Russia's ability to continue to fund its war in Ukraine of the winding down transactions window granted to VTB Bank before sanctions come fully into force.

John Glen: VTB Bank PJSC has been subject to a full asset freeze since 24/02/2022. General Licence INT/2022/1272278 permits only the wind down of existing activity for third parties and expires on 27 March 2022. The general licence has been granted to reduce disruption in the UK financial system, not to permit VTB to proactively exit positions. It ensures that VTB will not benefit from a situation where UK persons cannot close out their positions or wind down transactions involving the bank.

Ukraine: Debts

Hywel Williams: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with (a) his Ukrainian counterpart and (b) the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs on Ukrainian sovereign debt relief.

John Glen: The Chancellor continues to engage with G7 partners and International Financial Institutions on progressing current and future support to Ukraine. This includes a G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting held on 1 March with the Ukrainian Finance Minister. Alongside our allies, we’ve hit Russia with the most severe package of sanctions it has ever seen and our economic and humanitarian support to Ukraine now totals around £400 million. This includes USD$100 million of funding to Ukraine through the World Bank Multi-Donor Trust Fund and that we stand ready to provide USD$500 million in loan guarantees to support Multilateral Development Bank lending. This support has also enabled a package to be agreed on 8 March of over $700m for direct fiscal support to Ukraine via the World Bank, to help mitigate direct economic impacts.

Defibrillators: VAT

Virginia Crosbie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will remove VAT from defibrillators in order to make it more affordable for communities to purchase that equipment.

Lucy Frazer: The Government already maintains VAT reliefs to aid the purchase of Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs), including VAT relief on purchases made by local authorities and those made through voluntary contributions, where the AED is donated to eligible charities or the NHS. Otherwise, they attract the standard rate of VAT.Introducing any new VAT reliefs would come at a cost to the Exchequer and the Government has received over £50 billion worth of requests for relief from VAT since the EU referendum. However, the Government keeps all taxes under constant review.

Holiday Accommodation: Refugees

Sarah Olney: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will review the requirement of furnished holiday lets to let at a commercial rate for 105 days per annum should they wish to remain a small business, to allow those businesses to offer free accommodation to Ukrainian refugees.

Lucy Frazer: Furnished Holiday Lets (FHLs) receive special tax treatment including the ability to claim trading Capital Gains Tax reliefs and capital allowances for items such as furniture. In addition, FHLs are not subject to any finance cost relief restriction and profits count as earnings for pension purposes.Landlords can provide their residential properties to refugees for free. When a property does not qualify as a FHL, or stops being a qualifying FHL, the landlord becomes subject to the normal tax rules for residential property rental income. Whilst there are no plans to change this to reflect the situation in Ukraine, the UK Government is clear that we must ensure the humanitarian needs of displaced people are met, both within and beyond Ukraine’s borders, and we urge the relevant authorities to consider and plan for such possible outcomes. The UK is now the largest bilateral humanitarian donor to Ukraine and has pledged around £400 million to help Ukraine.

Research: Tax Allowances

Abena Oppong-Asare: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate he has made of the number of R&D tax relief advisers operating in the UK who are involved in submitting fraudulent or dubious claims for R&D tax reliefs; and what steps his Department has taken to tackle the activity of those advisers.

Lucy Frazer: The Government is exploring broader options that consider the case for moving further towards statutory regulation of the tax advice market. As announced in November 2021, we will be consulting on this later in the year. At Spring Budget 2021, the Government announced a review of R&D tax reliefs supported by a consultation. The consultation closed in June 2021, and at Autumn Budget 2021, the Chancellor announced a package of measures to target abuse and improve compliance. From April 2023, all claims will have to be notified in advance, be made digitally, include more details about the expenditure, be endorsed by a named senior officer of the company, and include details of any agent who has advised the company on the claim. Information regarding the number of R&D tax relief advisers involved in submitting fraudulent or dubious claims is not available. HMRC’s programme of compliance activity addressing this risk posed by abuse of the R&D regimes spans fraudulent behaviour as well as other types of non-compliance, such as error and mistake, and therefore covers a wide range of agents and advisors. HMRC has doubled the resource working on R&D non-compliance, is utilising data and intelligence to improve the risking process, and is undertaking a Mandatory Random Enquiry Programme to improve understanding of the level of error and fraud in the R&D regime.

Research: Tax Allowances

Abena Oppong-Asare: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many full time equivalent HMRC staff have worked on tackling abuse of R&D tax reliefs in each of the last five years.

Lucy Frazer: HMRC undertakes a wide range of compliance activity in relation to Research and Development (R&D) claims and this work is undertaken across a number of teams, including specialist R&D teams, the Fraud Investigation Service, and teams that also deal with other aspects of Corporation Tax.  The specialist teams who deal with non-compliance in relation to a range of incentives and reliefs, including R&D, Creatives Industries, Venture Capital, Tonnage Tax, and Patent Box, currently have 244.9 full time equivalent team members. There are additional teams who, for example, work on R&D as part of a wider role, such as those within Large Business and Fraud Investigation Service, who are not included in this figure.   Information regarding the number of HMRC staff involved specifically in tackling abuse is not available.

Research: Tax Allowances

Abena Oppong-Asare: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the number of R&D tax relief advisors operating in the UK.

Lucy Frazer: Information on the number of Research and Development (R&D) tax relief advisors is not available.   At Spring Budget 2021, the Government announced a review of R&D tax reliefs supported by a consultation. The consultation closed in June 2021, and at Autumn Budget 2021, the Chancellor announced a package of measures to target abuse and improve compliance. From April 2023, all claims will have to be notified in advance, be made digitally, include more details about the expenditure, be endorsed by a named senior officer of the company, and include details of any agent who has advised the company on the claim.   Therefore, HMRC will have enhanced data on R&D agents from April 2023.

Research: Tax Allowances

Abena Oppong-Asare: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what most recent estimate HMRC has made of the level of fraud in (a) the Research and Development Expenditure Credit, and (b) the SME R&D relief.

Lucy Frazer: 2020-21 is the second financial year where an estimate of the error and fraud in relation to the Research and Development (R&D) regime has been included in the HMRC annual report and accounts. The overall estimate of the level of error and fraud is 3.6 per cent of the estimated cost of the reliefs. Within this, 5.5 per cent relates to the Small and Medium Enterprises scheme and 0.9 per cent relates to the Research and Development expenditure credit scheme. The estimate is based on historic claim data, compliance results, and Tax Gaps, and by its nature is uncertain. This estimate does not differentiate between error and fraud and covers a wide range of non-compliant behaviours.

Energy: VAT

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 7 March 2022 to Question 129256, what assessment his Department has made of whether VAT revenues will increase or decrease as a result of rises in energy prices.

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer 28 February 2022 to Question 125532, on Energy: VAT, what assessment his Department has made of the amount by which (a) VAT and (b) fuel consumption will reduce as a result of the increase in fuel prices.

Lucy Frazer: As set out in the answers to PQ UIN 125532 and PQ UIN 129256, high energy prices reduce VAT revenues. In recognition that families should not have to bear all the VAT costs they incur to meet their energy needs, domestic fuels such as heating oil, gas and electricity are subject to the reduced rate of 5 per cent of VAT. If people spend more on domestic fuels where VAT is 5 per cent, they spend less on goods and services that on average have a much higher VAT rate, thereby reducing VAT revenue overall.

Energy Bills Rebate: Park Homes

Alec Shelbrooke: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what support he will provide to residents of park homes who are not eligible for the energy bill rebate because their energy is supplied direct to the operating business and then recharged to the resident.

Helen Whately: All domestic electricity customers in Great Britain will receive a £200 reduction in their electricity costs from this October. This will be delivered via energy suppliers and will be clearly identifiable as a line item on electricity bills. There are certain situations where a third party will be responsible for the bill (and be named on it). In this situation, any electricity charges are then passed onto the end user, typically through an all-inclusive rent (in the case of a landlord/tenant) or ‘pitch’ charges, e.g. for a park home. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) will explore this issue further, including by gathering further information via the government consultation on the delivery of the Energy Bill Support Scheme for households.

Diesel Fuel: Excise Duties

Kim Leadbeater: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the impact of a tax rebate on diesel fuel on the road and haulage industry.

Helen Whately: In recognition of high prices at the pump and the fact that fuel represents a major cost for households and businesses, including those in the road and haulage industry, the Chancellor announced at the Autumn Budget 2021 that fuel duty would remain frozen for a twelfth consecutive year. A freeze already represents a cut in real terms, and means that the average HGV tank will cost around £130 less in fuel duty, compared to what would have been paid under the pre-2010 escalator. All taxes, including fuel duty, remain under review.

National Insurance Contributions

Mr David Davis: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether there is a statutory basis for HMRC's policy to promote among employers the use of statements on payslips supporting the National Insurance contributions rise in April 2022.

Lucy Frazer: There is no statutory obligation on employers to include statements on payslips explaining the rise in National Insurance contributions (NICs). The temporary increases to rates of NICs for the tax year 2022-23 precede the introduction of the Health and Social Care levy as a new, separate tax from April 2023. The legislation which introduces the Levy requires it to be separately identified on payslips, alongside NICs and Income Tax, from April 2023 onwards. HMRC, as part of their role in promoting greater understanding of the tax system, have asked employers to include factual messaging on payslips in 2022-23 to highlight the temporary change in NICs rates before the new Levy begins in 2023-24, however this is not mandatory.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Forests: Conservation

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how the Government will ensure the $500m finance for tackling deforestation, announced by the Government at COP26, reaches and benefits farming communities in cocoa and banana growing regions in West Africa, Latin America and beyond.

Vicky Ford: The UK works with small farmers to improve livelihoods and prevent deforestation through Partnerships for Forests (P4F) (£120 million, 2015-23). The programme operates in Southeast Asia, East Africa, West Africa and Latin America. Across all of these regions, the programme supports partnerships between companies, farmers and communities, piloting new approaches to growing crops like palm oil, cocoa, coffee and soya, while improving livelihoods and protecting and restoring forests.For example, in West Africa, UK funds support the implementation of agreements between the global cocoa industry and the Ghanaian and Ivoirian governments to eliminate deforestation and promote climate smart approaches to growing cocoa. Through this, farmers receive support to improve practices and eliminate deforestation from the cocoa supply chain. At COP26, the UK announced a £500 million, ten-year second phase of support to Partnerships for Forests, building on the experience of the first phase of the programme. Work is now underway to put this new funding commitment into place.

Ukraine: Energy Supply

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the viability of the three year £100m energy independence aid package for Ukraine announced on 23 February 2022 in the context of the possibility of a drawn-out conflict in that country.

James Cleverly: The Government is working closely with the Ukrainian Government, international and across multilateral organisations, to protect the people of Ukraine. This includes the announcement of the three year £100 million energy independence aid package, designed to bolster the most vulnerable parts of the Ukrainian economy and reduce Ukraine's reliance on energy imports, a fact which Russia has long exploited.The UK has now committed nearly £400 million to support Ukraine during this crisis, including £220 million of life-saving humanitarian assistance. The UK stands should to shoulder with Ukraine against Russia's illegal invasion and will continue to provide unwavering support.

Seuxal Offences: Ukraine

Drew Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of (a) supplying sexual assault forensic evidence kits to the Government of Ukraine, and (b) paying for the processing of those kits to take place in the UK, so as to enable the international prosecution of commanders and service personnel who commit rape as a war crime during the conflict in Ukraine.

James Cleverly: Russia's use of indiscriminate force against innocent civilians, in its illegal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, must be investigated and those responsible must be held to account. That is why the UK led efforts to bring together allies on 2 March to expedite an International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation into Russian war crimes in Ukraine. With 37 countries joining the UK, it is the largest referral in the history of the ICC. As a founder member of the ICC, the UK is willing to provide the necessary technical assistance to support successful convictions.

Ukraine: Civilians

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what diplomatic steps she is taking to help ensure the protection of civilians in Ukraine.

James Cleverly: The Government is working closely with the international community, with Ukraine directly, and across international organisations, to protect the people of Ukraine. The UK has now committed nearly £400 million to support Ukraine during this crisis, including £220 million of life-saving humanitarian assistance. On 7 March, the Prime Minister announced proposals for a new 'International Ukraine Support Group' to coordinate and sustain international support for Ukraine. This Group will capitalise on the unity shown at the UN General Assembly on 2 March in order to maximise sustained political, humanitarian, economic, civil society and civil resilience support. We will continue to work tirelessly with partners to protect Ukrainian civilians and to hold Russia accountable for their actions.

Ukraine: Aid

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will make an estimate of the value quantified in pounds sterling of the (a) economic, (b) humanitarian and (c) military support (i) sent and (ii) committed to Ukraine in 2022; and whether existing projects have had their funding reduced to facilitate aid to Ukraine from the existing foreign aid budget.

James Cleverly: On 7 March the Prime Minister announced new funding for Ukraine, bringing the total UK support during the current Ukraine crisis to £395 million. This includes £220 million of humanitarian aid and £100 million of Overseas Development Assistance. The £395 million also includes £75 million for the Ukrainian government budget to mitigate financial pressures created by Putin's unprovoked and illegal invasion.We provided a package of military support, including defensive weapons and body armour. We have trained 22,000 members of the Ukrainian armed forces since 2015, provided 2,000 anti-tank defensive missiles and provided £1.7 billion of financial support to develop Ukraine's naval capability.

Ukraine: Children

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent steps her Department has taken to facilitate the provision of education and psychosocial support for Ukrainian children who have been displaced.

James Cleverly: The UK has now committed £395 million in aid to the current crisis. This includes £220 million of humanitarian assistance which will be used to save lives, protect vulnerable people inside Ukraine and in neighbouring countries. It will also be used to support refugees, including children, fleeing Ukraine through the provision of logistics, advice and analysis of needs on the ground.We are working to ensure aid agencies are able to respond to the deteriorating humanitarian situation. The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) launched its Ukraine Appeal on 2 March which has now reached over £100 million, with the government matching £25 million of the publics donations. This is our largest ever aid-match contribution, which will help DEC charities provide food, water, shelter and healthcare to refugees and displaced families.

Ukraine: HIV Infection

Florence Eshalomi: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government is taking with international counterparts to ensure people living with HIV in Ukraine have access to essential life saving medicines during the Russian invasion of that country.

James Cleverly: The UK has now committed £395 million in aid to the current crisis. This includes £220 million of humanitarian assistance which will be used to save lives, protect vulnerable people inside Ukraine and in neighbouring countries. It will also be used to support refugees fleeing Ukraine through the provision of logistics, advice and analysis of needs on the ground. This funding will help aid agencies respond to the deteriorating humanitarian situation by providing access to basic necessities and medical supplies.

Russia: Ukraine

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to support (a) the Ukrainian Government, (b) NATO allies and (c) NGOs to preserve and collect evidence of alleged (i) war crimes and (ii) crimes against humanity to assist the International Criminal Court’s investigation in Ukraine.

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what support the Government is providing to the International Criminal Court to assist with that body's investigation into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine.

James Cleverly: Russia's use of indiscriminate force against innocent civilians, in its illegal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, is clear for all to see. It must be investigated and those responsible must be held to account. The UK joined 44 partners on 3 March to launch an OSCE mission to investigate violations of human rights and international humanitarian law by Russia in Ukraine. The UK also led efforts to bring together 37 partners on 2 March to expedite an ICC investigation into Russian war crimes in Ukraine. We are willing to provide the necessary technical assistance to support successful convictions.

Sanctions: Russia

Drew Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of establishing an extensive emergency law enforcement taskforce to target Russian sanctions evasion and the financial assets of people linked to Vladimir Putin and the Russian State.

James Cleverly: The new dedicated 'Kleptocracy Cell' in the National Crime Agency will target criminal sanctions evasion and corrupt assets hidden in the UK. The Government is working with the NCA to establish the new Cell at pace and the NCA have already surged additional officers to support existing efforts and will further enhance the Cell to progress these complex investigations. The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) works extremely closely with the NCA, and this includes close cooperation on sanctions breaches.

Ukraine: Humanitarian Aid

Paul Girvan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what contact her Department has had with Ukrainian missionaries and church networks on the targeting and delivery of UK aid.

James Cleverly: The total UK aid to Ukraine and the region for the current crisis totals £395 million, including £220 million of humanitarian assistance. We recognise the important role that faith groups and NGOs play in responding to humanitarian crises and through direct funding, country programmes and multilateral support, we work with NGOs and faith groups, who are often best placed to meet the needs of those most at risk. In Ukraine, we are working to ensure aid agencies are able to respond to the deteriorating humanitarian situation. The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) launched its Ukraine Appeal on 2 March which has now reached over £100 million, with the government matching £25 million of the publics donations. This is our largest ever aid-match contribution, which will help DEC charities provide food, water, shelter and healthcare to refugees and displaced families.

Sudan: Politics and Government

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to Consultations on a political process for Sudan: an inclusive intra-Sudanese process on the way forward for democracy and peace, published by UNITAMS on 28 February 2022, what steps she plans to take to support rapid and peaceful progress towards civilian democratic rule in Sudan.

Vicky Ford: The UK and partners issued a statement on 2 March welcoming the UN report and the strong consensus it highlights on issues such as the need for a civilian cabinet, justice and accountability, and the role of women in the transition. Our statement made a clear call for all Sudanese political actors to engage in the next phase of talks to help achieve this. We will continue to advocate for such participation and to maintain pressure on the Sudanese military to engage to deliver the Sudanese people's demands for freedom, peace and justice.

Ghana: Freedom of Expression

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the impact on freedoms of (a) the press and (b) expression in Ghana of the treatment of (i) Kwabena Bobbie Ansah, (ii) Oheneba Boamah Bennie, (iii) Blessed Godsbrain Smart and (iv) Eric Nana Gyetuah.

Vicky Ford: The UK Government is committed to the promotion of media freedom and freedom of expression worldwide. Like the UK, Ghana is a member of the Media Freedom Coalition and has signed the media freedom global pledge. This commits Ghana to improving global media freedom and taking action where journalists and media organisations are at risk. Our High Commission in Accra is aware of the cases raised and will continue to monitor the situation and push for media freedom in our regular discussions with journalists, members of Parliament and Government officials.

Sudan: Sanctions

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing economic sanctions on Sudan's military government.

Vicky Ford: We remain concerned at the political crisis and continued violent repression of protesters in Sudan. Since the 25 October 2021 military coup, Ministers, British Embassy staff in Khartoum and senior FCDO officials have continued to call on all parties to engage in dialogue and support the return to the democratic transition. Most recently on 2 March, we released a statement welcoming a report on progress in the UN facilitated talks and calling on all political actors to engage in the next phase. With partners we continue to consider all options to maintain pressure on the Sudanese military to protect human rights and deliver the people's demands for freedom, peace and justice. This includes the possibility of sanctions.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Resignations

Dr Lisa Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if his Department will publish (a) the number of resignations received from staff in (i) his Department and (ii) the Department for International Development during the merger of those Departments and (b) the reason for each staff resignation during that period.

Vicky Ford: Data about departing staff is collected as part of the Annual Civil Service Employment Survey (ACSES) cross government data collection, and published by the Cabinet Office. Data for FCDO leavers by government department and leaving cause can be found in Table 42 of https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1006364/Statistical_tables_-_Civil_Service_Statistics_2021.xlsx. Neither FCDO, nor legacy departments, collect data on the reasons for staff resignations.

Commonwealth Secretariat

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the Government plans to support specific candidates in the election for Commonwealth Secretary General at CHOGM.

Vicky Ford: The position of Secretary-General is decided collectively by Commonwealth Heads of Government at CHOGM. Candidates for selection may come forward at any time. Heads will decide the next substantive Secretary-General appointment in Kigali in June.

Freedom of Religion or Belief Summit

Sir Edward Leigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what her Department's budget is for the international conference to promote freedom of religion or belief due to take place in London in July 2022.

Vicky Ford: The UK-hosted International Ministerial Conference on Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) in July 2022 will drive forward international efforts on this agenda and demonstrate the UK's leading role in supporting freedom and openness. This conference will allow us to use our global influence to promote and protect freedom of religion or belief for all internationally. Preparations for the conference are ongoing, including working with delivery partners to develop a comprehensive budget.

Burkina Faso: Foreign Relations

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent representations the Government has made to the military leadership in Burkina Faso.

Vicky Ford: We have not yet made any representations to the military leadership in Burkina Faso. I refer the Honourable Member to the answer of 2 March 2022 to question 127412 with regards to the situation in Burkina Faso. We are monitoring the political and security situation closely, and working with partners to encourage a swift, peaceful and constructive resolution to events. I [Minister Ford] set out the UK's continued support for the Economic Community of West African States' (ECOWAS) regional mediation efforts in a meeting with ECOWAS President, Jean-Claude Kassi Brou, on 22 February. I also discussed the situation in Burkina Faso with Ghana's Foreign Minister, Shirley Botchwey.

South Sudan and Sudan: Violence

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the (a) immediate risk to life of attacks on civilians in the disputed Abyei region, including the towns of (i) Abyei and (ii) Agok, (b) roles of (A) Sudanese Armed Forces, (B) Misseriya militia, (C) Twic Dinka militias, (D) South Sudan People's Defence Forces and (D) Ngok Dinka militias in the ongoing violence; what representations she has made to authorities in the area including the leadership of UNISFA; and what steps she is taking to avoid escalation of that conflict.

Vicky Ford: We remain concerned at violence in Abyei. We continue to urge Sudan and South Sudan to reach a resolution on the final status of the region to help end the longstanding conflict and violence between different communities. We also frequently raise our concerns at the UN Security Council and have helped ensure that the UN peacekeeping mission (UNISFA) has a robust protection of civilians mandate. British embassy officials in Juba and Khartoum maintain regular contact with UNISFA, most recently sharing reports of potential violence in order to help understand conflict dynamics, and to prevent or respond to any attacks.

India: Muslims

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what plans she has to raise concerns with her Indian counterpart on increasing violence towards Muslims in India, including hostility towards hijab wearing; and if she will make a statement.

Vicky Ford: The UK is committed to defending freedom of religion or belief for all, and promoting respect and tolerance between different religious and non-religious communities. We condemn any instances of discrimination because of religion or belief, regardless of the country or faith involved. Where we have concerns, we raise them directly with the Government of India, including at Ministerial level.The British High Commission in New Delhi will continue to monitor the situation in Karnataka, where Muslim girls were banned from entering college for wearing hijabs, as it progresses through the Indian court system, while recognising that this is a matter for India. It is up to the Indian authorities to respond to such reports, in line with their democratic framework.

New South Wales: Floods

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of flooding incidents in New South Wales.

Amanda Milling: The Foreign Secretary was saddened to learn of the severe weather and flooding that has occurred in Queensland and New South Wales, forcing many to evacuate their homes and sadly, some to lose their lives. The Foreign Secretary understands that police and emergency services locally are doing all they can to assist residents. We continue to monitor the situation and the potential impact on British Nationals.

Africa: Climate Change

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the Power Shift Africa report, entitled Adapt or Die: An analysis of African climate adaptation strategies, published on 25 February 2022.

Vicky Ford: The UK recognises how urgent and important it is to ensure countries most vulnerable to climate change, including those in Sub-Saharan Africa, are able to respond to the risks they face. At COP26 the UK committed £143.5 million to support African countries to adapt to the impact of extreme weather and changing climate.The UK is fully committed to working with countries to honour the commitments made in the Glasgow Climate Pact at COP26, including through the Glasgow-Sharm el Sheikh work programme to deliver on the Global Goal on Adaptation; developed countries' commitment to at least double their collective provision of climate finance for adaptation to developing countries by 2025; and the Glasgow Dialogue on Loss and Damage. This is in addition to the Glasgow Leaders' Declaration on Forests and Land Use agreed at COP26, aiming to end deforestation by 2030 in Africa, supported by the Congo Basin Pledge, where 11 other donors in committing $1.5 billion for the protection of the Congo Basin Forests, and the land-mark $8.5 billion deal to support South Africa's just energy transition from coal with the UK, France, Germany, the US and the European Union - the first of its kind worldwide.

Sub-Saharan Africa: Climate Change

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies on Sub-Saharan Africa of the second part of the UN IPCC's Sixth Assessment Report, entitled Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability, published on 27 February 2022.

Vicky Ford: The UK agrees with the IPCC that global action to adapt to the changing climate has been insufficient and recognises how urgent and important it is to ensure countries most vulnerable to climate change, including those in Sub-Saharan Africa, are able to respond to the risks they face.At COP26 the UK committed £143.5 million to support African countries to adapt to the impact of extreme weather and changing climate. These include, amongst others, the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Programme to support African countries in designing and implementing transformational adaptation of their economies, supporting resilient water resources management through the Africa Regional Climate and Nature Programme, and the Climate Adaptation and Resilience research programme to inform development in a changing climate in Africa. This is in addition to the Glasgow Leaders' Declaration on Forests and Land Use agreed at COP26, aiming to end deforestation by 2030 in Africa, supported by the Congo Basin Pledge, where 11 other donors in committing $1.5 billion for the protection of the Congo Basin Forests and the land-mark $8.5 billion deal to support South Africa's just energy transition from coal with the UK, France, Germany, the US and the European Union - the first of its kind worldwide.This also includes £19.5 million for the Shock Response Programme in the Sahel, working with the World Bank to strengthen government social protection systems in Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger, and support to the Centre for Disaster Protection to improve use of early warning systems and disaster risk financing. More recently we have completed a series of reports in partnership with the Met Office and the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) to assess climate risks across regions in Sub-Saharan Africa to help embed consideration of climate risks across our work.

British Indian Ocean Territory: Tamils

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will make and what assessment of the welfare of Tamil refugees in Diego Garcia.

Amanda Milling: We are supporting the 89 people escorted to The British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) for their safety when their vessel was damaged last year. Their welfare is our top priority. We are working with the group and international partners on options and next steps.

Ministry of Defence

Ukraine: Military Aid

Paul Girvan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether any additional defence contracts have been awarded for the procurement of anti-tank weapons for delivery to Ukraine.

James Heappey: No additional defence contracts have been awarded for the procurement of anti-tank weapons to Ukraine. The anti-tank weapons donated to Ukrainian Armed Forces have been taken from existing UK stocks. We have now delivered 3,615 NLAWs (Next-Generation Light Anti-Tank Weapons Systems) and will shortly be starting the delivery of a small consignment of anti-tank javelin missiles as well. We maintain the right to deliver bilateral support, including lethal and non-lethal defensive equipment, to a sovereign nation when requested in areas that will better help them defend themselves. We will continue to do that.

Ukraine: Military Aid

Paul Girvan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many anti-tank weapons the Government has already supplied to Ukraine; and whether the quantity of anti-tank weapons being sent can be increased.

James Heappey: We have now delivered 3,615 NLAWs (Next-Generation Light Anti-Tank Weapon Systems) and will shortly be starting the delivery of a small consignment of anti-tank javelin missiles as well.We maintain the right to deliver bilateral support, including lethal and non-lethal defensive equipment, to a sovereign nation when requested in areas that will better help them defend themselves. We will continue to do that.

Russia: NATO

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent steps he has taken to ensure that the UK’s NATO defence and security obligations are fulfilled to counter the threats from Russia.

James Heappey: NATO is the cornerstone of UK and Euro-Atlantic security, and our support for the Alliance is ironclad. NATO is a defensive Alliance, and remains open to dialogue with Russia. But Russia's current actions pose the most serious threat to Euro-Atlantic security, and so we must also adjust our posture to strengthen deterrence and defence across the Euro-Atlantic area. The UK is the largest European defence spender within NATO, a position strengthened by our recent increase of over £24 billion over the next four years. The UK spends 2.29% of its GDP on Defence, and 24.3% of this goes towards major equipment and associated research and development. This exceeds the respective 2% and 20% targets laid out within NATO's Defence Investment Pledge. In addition to meeting the 2% guideline every year since its introduction in 2006, our relative spending as a proportion of GDP is also the 4th highest amongst all 30 Allies.At this time of unprovoked and unjustified Russian aggression in Ukraine, we are bolstering support for our Eastern European Allies in line with our commitments to collective security through NATO. We are doubling the number of our defence personnel in Estonia, and have sent further Typhoon jets to Cyprus to supplement NATO patrols over Eastern Europe. HMS Trent is currently conducting patrols in the Eastern Mediterranean alongside NATO Allies, and will soon be joined by a Type 45 Destroyer. This is all in addition to the 350 Royal Marines we have sent to Poland, and the 1,000 military personnel we have placed on standby to assist in any humanitarian response to events in Ukraine. We have also deployed humanitarian experts to NATO Allies Hungary, Slovakia and Romania.

Undocumented Migrants

Mr Jonathan Lord: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to support the Home Office to tackle illegal immigration.

James Heappey: Defence is currently providing the Home Office with parts of the Defence estate to aid with housing and processing cross-channel migrants. This includes Napier Barracks in Kent and, since December 2021, the former Defence Fire Training and Development Centre in Manston. Discussions are underway to determine whether additional land and accommodation from the Defence estate might be made available, together with specialist personnel, to further increase capacity. As has been the case in the past, Defence has a number of vessels and surveillance capabilities available which can be made available if required to augment those of the Border Force in monitoring and intercepting migrants seeking to cross the Channel. In addition, Defence is planning to take primacy for small boats migration in the English Channel under Operation ISOTROPE which will see the Royal Navy providing enhanced control and coordination of cross-Government assets in order to prevent the arrival of small boats on their own terms in the UK, whilst ensuring safety of life at sea.

Afghanistan: Refugees

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many individual ARAP primary applicants his Department has relocated to the UK in each month since April 2021.

James Heappey: We are working at pace to relocate all those who are eligible and helping them to come to the UK continues to be a high priority. So far, we have relocated over 8,000 Afghans. As at 9 March 2022, the number of ARAP eligible principals relocated by month is shown in the table below: April 20210May 20211June 202124July 2021188August 2021 (inc Op PITTING)981September 202119October 202141November 202181December 202160January 202284February 202282Total 1,561

Army: Employment

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he plans to reverse the decision to cut full-time Army personnel to 73,000.

James Heappey: The 2021 Integrated Review and Defence Command Paper outlines the Government's plan for Defence. It recognised the unprecedented challenges posed by geopolitical shifts, including intensifying competition between states, a widening range of security threats, and rapid technological change.The Future Soldier publication, published on 25 November 2021, outlines the future restructuring of the Army. The Army will consist of 73,000 full-time personnel and will move to a whole-force strength including fully integrated Reserve of over 100,000 personnel from 2025. The Army will become more agile and designed for permanent and persistent global engagement. The Army will be leaner, lighter, faster to respond, and more effectively matched to current and future threats. It will be integrated across domains, with allies, and ever more globally engaged.We will continue to ensure we are threat-led and review the capabilities of the Armed Forces accordingly.

Russia: Ukraine

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the use of hybrid warfare in Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

James Heappey: Russia continues to employ aggressive and destabilising hybrid tactics to counter its adversaries, and we have seen Russia increasing its hybrid warfare in Ukraine to achieve various aims, such as to provide a pretext for military action against Ukraine, to prepare the Russian domestic population for war, and to weaken Ukraine's defences. This has included false flag operations, cyber attacks, and an aggressive set of information operations against Ukraine and NATO. These actions are straight out of Russia's playbook and Her Majesty's Government has already released and will continue to release declassified compelling intelligence exposing Russian hybrid activity.

National Cyber Force

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) armed forces personnel and (b) non-armed forces personnel are members of the National Cyber Force.

James Heappey: The National Cyber Force is made up of a roughly equal share of personnel from defence and intelligence, and brings together their expertise, resources and authorities under a single command structure. We do not comment on the exact figures of personnel working in the National Cyber Force for national security reasons.Defence is creating new dedicated career pathways for Defence cyberspace specialists to build a world-class workforce so we have the right skills in the right teams at the right time.

Estonia: Armed Forces

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answers 24 and 25 February 2022 to Questions 126543 and 127275 on Estonia: Armed Forces, whether the number of British troops stationed in Estonia following the decision to double the number of British troops in the country including the Royal Tank Regiment and the Royal Welsh will be (a) 1000 or (b) 1,700.

James Heappey: The number of British troops, including the Royal Tank Regiment and the Royal Welsh Regiment, will be stationed in Estonia is c. 1,700.

Armed Forces: Housing

Gareth Bacon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the capacity (a) was in 2014 and (b) is of service family accommodation in the London Borough of Bromley local authority area.

Leo Docherty: On 1 January 2014 there were 43 Service Family Accommodation (SFA) properties in the London Borough of Bromley area. As of 1 March 2022 there are 35 SFA properties.

Armoured Fighting Vehicles

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 7 March 2022 to Question 132162 on Armoured Fighting Vehicles, how many of the Army’s (a) main battle tanks, (b) infantry fighting vehicles and (c) artillery are not operational or available for deployment as of 7 March 2022.

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 7 March 2022 to Question 132161 on Armoured Fighting Vehicles, how many of the Army's (a) Challenger tanks, (b) Warrior armoured vehicles and (c) AS90 self-propelled howitzers are not operational or available for deployment as of 7 March 2022.

Jeremy Quin: In the interests of safegurading national security it is not appropriate to place in the public domain the specific information that has been requested. As I said when I answered Question 132161 for the Rt Hon. Gentleman details of the number of vehicles in the UK Armed Forces are published on an annual basis on the Government’s website. The most recent publication can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/uk-armed-forces-equipment-and-formations-2021

Department for Work and Pensions

Personal Independence Payment

Damien Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department plans to take to ensure that personal independence payment assessments are carried out in a fair, consistent, and accurate manner.

Chloe Smith: The Department is committed to ensuring claimants receive high quality, objective and accurate assessments, as part of the suite of evidence the department uses to decide entitlement. There are a range of regular governance and monthly performance meetings to support delivery of the contracts to ensure that where action is required, it can be focused and targeted.We have a strong and collaborative relationship with Capita and Independent Assessment Services (IAS) and work closely with them to further improve the quality of assessments, including clinical coaching, feedback, and support available to Health Professionals. Providers share training materials between themselves to encourage best practice, standardise processes and improve the claimant experience. They also regularly engage with medical experts, charities, and relevant stakeholders to strengthen, maintain, and update their training programmes.The Department is also bringing forward a Green Paper on health and disability support, focusing on the welfare system. The Green Paper will explore how the welfare system can better meet the needs of disabled people and people with health conditions now and in the future, to build a system that enables people to live independently and move into work where possible.

Industrial Health and Safety: Pregnancy

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether there is a specialist Health and Safety Executive service to deliver advice to employers, employees and local authority officers on risk assessment and management for pregnant women and new mothers in the workplace.

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has made an assessment of the proportion of pregnant women in the workplace (a) whose employer undertakes an individual risk assessment and (b) who report that all risks were addressed during that assessment.

Chloe Smith: The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has a long established advice line where concerns can be raised, general enquiries answered and where appropriate, referred to policy, inspector and occupational health specialists for further advice. This includes advice on risk assessment and management for pregnant women and new mothers. Ways to contact HSE HSE do not hold data on the number of pregnant women whose employer undertakes an individual risk assessment and who report that all risks were addressed during that assessment.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Water Supply: Thames Valley

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that the alternative of bringing new water to the Thames Valley via a Severn Thames Transfer pipeline is considered effectively by the Ofwat/RAPID scrutiny process.

Rebecca Pow: The Environment Agency’s National Framework for water resources, published in 2020, identified that between 2025 and 2050 around 3,435 million additional litres of water per day will be needed for public water supply. Water companies have a statutory duty to provide a secure supply of water for customers, efficiently and economically. Statutory water resources management plans show how companies will continue to meet this duty and manage water supply and demand for at least the next 25 years. In their plans, water companies must consider all options, including demand management and water resources infrastructure. Collaborative regional water resources groups and water companies are preparing their water resources plans for consultations during 2022. Thames Water will formally consult publicly on its draft water resources management plan at the end of 2022, on which, both Ofwat and the Environment Agency are statutory consultees. Ofwat/RAPID’s ongoing scrutiny of proposed strategic water resources schemes will also improve the statutory plans.

Recreation Spaces: Urban Areas

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the recommendations of The University of Manchester’s Building Utopia publication, whether his Department has plans to make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing green spaces and the role of communities in urban greening as part of the secondary legislation for the Environment Act 2021.

Rebecca Pow: This Government has a world leading target to halt nature’s decline by 2030 and we know that will require action to recover biodiversity across the country including in our urban areas. To support that work, Natural England is working with Defra and other partners and stakeholders to develop a Green Infrastructure Framework. This will include a menu of green infrastructure standards that will help local planning authorities and developers meet requirements in the National Planning Policy Framework to consider green infrastructure in local plans and in new development.The Green Infrastructure Framework will be fully available later this year. The aim will be to embed the Framework in national planning guidance and policy, which will be important to ensure that good green infrastructure is secured for all communities through the planning system.

Walley's Quarry Landfill: Odour Pollution

Aaron Bell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the effect on the local community of the odorous emissions from the site operation of Walley's Quarry in Newcastle-under-Lyme.

Jo Churchill: I commend the hon. Member's tireless commitment to his constituents on this issue. I have seen for myself the issues at Walleys Quarry, and I share his concerns. We are taking action through emissions monitoring and sharing our data with the UK Health Security Agency, which is providing expert public health advice. We are firmly holding the operator to account in delivering continuous improvements for the local community.

Sewage: West Sussex

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with representatives of Southern Water on sewage discharges in West Sussex.

Rebecca Pow: Water quality is an absolute priority for me. I have been crystal clear with water companies – including Southern Water – that the current frequency of sewage discharges is unacceptable. We are the first government to set out our expectation that water companies must take steps to significantly reduce storm overflows, and Southern Water has recently received a £90 million fine – the largest on record.

Agriculture Act 2020

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of expanding access to countryside provisions in the Agriculture Act 2020.

Victoria Prentis: The 25 Year Environment Plan sets out the ambition to connect more people from all backgrounds with the natural environment for their health and well-being, and the commitment to supporting people to access and enjoy outdoor spaces. The priority is for this to happen in a way that is safe for people and animals, and in line with published regulations and guidance. Support for increasing access into the countryside will be made through existing schemes and support mechanisms already in place. Access is currently provided for under the Countryside Stewardship scheme’s Higher Tier and Mid Tier. The scheme funds land managers for both the instalment of capital items to promote access, such as gates and stiles, as well as providing educational visits which offer school pupils and care farming clients the opportunity to visit farms to learn, understand and engage with farming and the environment. This year we have introduced a new woodland supplement, Access for people, which aims to create alternative outdoor activities, encourage engagement with nature and create further educational opportunities. We are still considering our approach to support for increasing and maintaining access to the countryside in our future schemes including our environmental land management schemes. To boost investment in the meantime, we have launched a new Farming in Protected Landscapes programme in National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty – this includes opportunities for farmers and land managers to provide new or easier access, links to the Public Rights of Way network, and interpretation of farming, nature and heritage.

Veterinary Medicine: Training and Vacancies

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the level of shortages of veterinary surgeons in the UK; and what steps he is taking to support more people to train as veterinary surgeons in the UK.

Victoria Prentis: The Department engages regularly with a range of stakeholders including both the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons and British Veterinary Association on the issue of veterinary shortages across the profession. To help mitigate this, there are new veterinary schools opening at Harper Adams and Keele, The University of Central Lancashire, the Scottish Rural College and a collaboration between the University of Aberystwyth and the Royal Veterinary College (London). This will help substantially increase the number of UK graduates entering the veterinary profession in the longer term.

Pesticides: Export Controls

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Government has made an assessment of the potential merits of banning the export licensing of pesticides which are prohibited from domestic use by the Health and Safety Executive for the purposes of protecting (a) human health and (b) the environment.

Victoria Prentis: We take our trade and international obligations for human health and the environment seriously and continue to monitor action in other countries and learn from their experiences.   In Great Britain, the export and import of certain hazardous chemicals is regulated under the GB Prior Informed Consent (PIC) regulatory regime. Companies intending to export any substances present on the PIC list from GB must notify the importing country via the exporter's Designated National Authority. For GB, the Designated National Authority is the Health and Safety Executive. The exchange of information that PIC provides allows the importing countries to make informed decisions on the import of those chemicals and on how to handle and use them safely. This process is kept under review.We believe it is essential that the use of active substances that are known to be hazardous to human health or the environment should be subject to scientific risk assessment and regulatory protections.We are progressing projects assessing the impacts of pesticides on human health and the environment in developing countries. We will continue to support developing countries to use pest management techniques which are most beneficial for them based on evidence and the expressed desires of the countries Additionally, the UK is committed to working internationally including through the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management and United Nations Environment Assembly to support other nations to manage pesticides safely. We also believe in evidence-based international policymaking through the use of scientific committees, such as the Chemical Review Committee, and strengthening of the international 'science-policy interface' for chemicals and pesticides to support global decision-making.

Neonicotinoids: Pollinators

Rachel Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the impact on pollinators of the recent emergency authorisation of the use of neonicotinoid pesticides.

Victoria Prentis: The decision to grant an emergency authorisation has not been taken lightly and is based on robust scientific evidence. 63% of the UK’s sugar comes from the domestic production of sugar beet, and the threat from yellows viruses this year is significant. Very strict conditions will minimise the risk to pollinators. Similar action has been taken by 12 other countries across Europe in recent years.

Home Office

Visas: Ukraine

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the eligibility to apply for a Ukraine Family Scheme visa published on 4 March 2022, whether the definition of extended family of a Ukrainian national living in the UK will be extended to include (a) aunts and (b) uncles.

Kevin Foster: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Visas: Ukraine

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the eligibility requirements in the guidance published by her Department on 4 March 2022, Apply for a Ukraine Family Scheme visa, whether the extended family of a Ukrainian national living in the UK who holds a spouse visa is accepted under the eligibility rules for a UK-based family member as someone settled in the UK in the event that the holder of that spouse visa does not currently have indefinite leave to remain.

Kevin Foster: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Refugees: Yazidis

Brendan O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Yazidi refugees have been resettled in the UK since 2014; what resettlement schemes were used for those people; and how many successful Yazidi applicants were made under each resettlement scheme.

Kevin Foster: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Visas: Ukraine

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Ukraine Family Scheme applications were being processed as of 7 March 2022.

Kevin Foster: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Refugees: Ukraine

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when the Local Sponsorship Scheme for Ukraine will open.

Kevin Foster: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Visas: Ukraine

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to her oral contribution in response to a question from the hon. member for Newcastle upon Tyne Central on 1 March 2022, Official Report, column 938, whether a Ukrainian resident in the UK can apply for a family reunion visa  regardless of his or her immigration status.

Kevin Foster: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Visas: Eastern Europe

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many staff in her Department were working in visa application centres in (a) Poland, (b) Romania and (c) Moldova on (i) 1 February and (ii) 7 March 2022.

Kevin Foster: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Refugees: Ukraine

Yvette Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant of her oral statement of 1 March 2022, whether the Government will provide financial support to partner organisations to the Ukraine sponsorship pathway.

Kevin Foster: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Refugees: Ukraine

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she plans to establish a British consular presence in Calais to issue visas to people fleeing the war in Ukraine.

Kevin Foster: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Visas: Ukraine

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many visas her Department has granted to Ukrainians as part of the Ukraine Family Scheme on each day since 28 February 2022.

Kevin Foster: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Detainees: Intelligence Services

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of whether the Government's guidance, The Principles relating to the detention and interviewing of detainees overseas and the passing and receipt of intelligence relating to detainees, published in July 2019, would prevent security agencies using torture methods such as those used in the cases of Martin Mubanga and Binyam Mohammed; and if she will make a statement.

Tom Pursglove: It would be inappropriate to comment upon individual cases. The Government does not participate in, solicit, encourage, or condone the use of torture. “The Principles relating to the detention and interviewing of detainees overseas and the passing and receipt of intelligence relating to detainees” make clear that in no circumstance will UK personnel ever take action amounting to torture. The Principles is overseen by the independent Investigatory Powers Commissioner, who reports annually on its application and compliance by the security agencies.

Police: Pepper Spray and Stun Guns

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 3 March 2022 to Question 131268, on Police: Pepper Spray and Tasers, under what circumstances police officers are permitted to be in possession of (a) PAVa and (b) Conducted Energy Devices when they are (i) off duty and (ii) on call.

Kit Malthouse: Decisions around equipping police officers, including the specific arrangements for carrying and storing equipment while off-duty and on call, are for operationally independent Chief Constables.

Stalking

Tonia Antoniazzi: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Stalking Protection Orders have been issued by each police force in England and Wales in (a) 2019, (b) 2020 and (c) 2021.

Tonia Antoniazzi: Suggested redraft: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Stalking Protection Orders issued by each police force in England and Wales were breached in (a) 2019, (b) 2020 and (c) 2021.

Rachel Maclean: Stalking Protection Orders (SPOs) were introduced in January 2020 to provide early protection to victims of stalking by placing restrictions and requirements on those perpetrating stalking behaviours so as to address the perpetrator’s behaviours before they become entrenched or escalate in severity. The police apply to the magistrates’ court to request that the court issue a SPO On 28 February 2022 we published a review into how SPOs operated during their first 12 months, and alongside the review, we also published more up to date statistics on SPOs from Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service, which correspond to the time period of 1 February 2020 to 31 January 2021. Those statistics can be found here: Management information: Stalking Protection Orders - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).   Stalking Protection Orders came into force on 20 January 2020, so none were issued in 2019.   In 2020, 419 Stalking Protection Orders were issued in England and Wales (169 full orders and 250 interim ones). The table below shows the breakdown by police force area. Notes 1, 2, 5, 6 and 7 in the ‘Notes’ tab in the first and second embedded documents in the above link apply to these figures. [x] denotes that between one and five SPOs were issued. This is on the basis that disclosing the actual figure would risk identification of the individuals concerned.Police Force AreaNo. of SPOs issuedAvon and Somerset7Bedfordshire0CambridgeshirexCheshire20ClevelandxCumbria6DerbyshirexDevon and Cornwall36Dorset0Durham0Dyfed-PowysxEssex23GloucestershirexGreater London73Greater Manchester16Gwent0Hampshire & Isle of WightxHertfordshirexHumberside0Kent11LancashirexLeicestershire14Lincolnshire10MerseysidexNorfolkxNorthamptonshirexNorthumbria14North WalesxNorth Yorkshire6Nottinghamshire17South Wales0South YorkshirexStaffordshire7Suffolk0Surrey43Sussex52Thames Valley0WarwickshirexWest Mercia0West Midlands11West YorkshirexWiltshire13 Data is not yet available on the numbers of Stalking Protection Orders issued during 2021.Data is not available on the numbers of Stalking Protection Orders issued pursuant to applications by each police force which were breached, in 2020 or 2021.

Legal Profession: Money Laundering

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of law firms potentially involved in money laundering by people or organisations linked to the Russian Government.

Damian Hinds: We are well aware that individuals with links to the Russian state may seek to further their reputation and influence within the UK through strategic investments. We continue to look in close detail at the nature of these relationships and the individuals or entities, including law firms, who facilitate corrupt elites.All legal professionals offering services which may be abused to enable money laundering or terrorist financing are required to comply with the Money Laundering Regulations 2017 (MLRs), and must be supervised to ensure their compliance by one of the 9 Professional Body Supervisors (PBSs) for the legal sector in the UK.

Firearms: Licensing

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people aged (a) 14 to 16 and (b) 16 to 18 hold gun licences.

Kit Malthouse: The Home Office publishes data on firearm and shotgun certificates in England and Wales by age group in the annual ‘Firearm and shotgun certificates, England and Wales’ National Statistics. The latest data cover the period April 2020 to March 2021, and are available here: Firearm certificates in England and Wales statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)Data on the number of firearm and shotgun certificate holders by age group are published in table 14 of the accompanying data tables. Data are published using the age groups ‘aged 13 and under’, ‘age 14 to 17’, ‘age 18 to 34’, ‘age 35 to 49’, ‘age 50 to 64’ and ‘age 65 and over’.

Extradition: Spain

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what extradition procedures are in place with Spain to enable the return of suspects to the UK to face trial.

Damian Hinds: The surrender provisions of the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement govern extradition arrangements between the UK and the EU Member States, including Spain. These arrangements provide streamlined cooperation and safeguards for extradition requests between the UK and EU Member States.Under these arrangements, the execution of individual warrants and surrender of any individual remain a matter for the UK’s independent courts, prosecutors and police forces.

National Crime Agency: Finance

Dame Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what additional budget has been allocated to the National Crime Agency in relation to the provisions of the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Bill.

Dame Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what additional budget has been allocated specifically to the newly established kleptocracy unit at the National Crime Agency.

Damian Hinds: The National Crime Agency welcomes the announcement on the Combatting Kleptocracy Cell to focus on corrupt elites laundering their assets within the UK. They have already surged additional officers to support existing efforts and will move at pace to enhance the unit further to drive forwards what are inevitably complex and lengthy operations.The SR21 settlement and the Economic Crime Levy represent an overall package of circa £400 million to tackle economic crime over the next three years, including support for the National Economic Crime Centre (NECC) and law enforcement.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Refugees: Ukraine

Stuart C McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the oral statement of the Home Secretary of 1 March 2022 on Ukraine, Official Report, column 915, what assessment he has made of when (a) people and organisations will be able to apply to sponsor a Ukrainian individual or family under the humanitarian sponsorship pathway and (b) Ukrainians will arrive in the UK through that pathway.

Eddie Hughes: I refer the Hon Member to the answers given here.

Council Tax: Payment Methods

Dame Meg Hillier: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the council tax rebate scheme, what steps he is taking to help support local authorities with residents who pay council tax in cash.

Kemi Badenoch: My Department will shortly issue FAQs to help local authorities administer the council tax rebate. This will include information on flexible payment options for households, balancing administrative ease and accessibility with the need to manage fraud risk.

Social Rented Housing: Armed Forces

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will update the Improving access to social housing for members of the Armed forces statutory guidance for Local Authorities to remove the five-year time limit on local connection test for social housing allocation.

Eddie Hughes: Local councils are best placed to determine how best to manage access to social housing – they are responsible for allocating housing through local schemes. These are governed by a framework of rules set by central government which ensure social housing is prioritised for those in housing need.In line with DLUHC’s commitments in the Armed Forces Covenant, we introduced regulations in 2012 that prevent local authorities from applying a local connection test to disqualify serving personnel as well as those within 5 years of having left the Armed Forces. Statutory guidance is clear that members of the regular Armed Forces, their bereaved spouses and civil partners, and seriously injured reservists, must not be disqualified for an allocation of social housing because they lack a local connection to an area.

Homelessness: Armed Forces

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will update the Homelessness Code of Guidance for Local Authorities to remove the local connection test for those currently serving in the Regular Armed Forces or who have served in the Regular Forces.

Eddie Hughes: Our veterans play a vital role in keeping our country safe and we are committed to ensuring that they are provided with all the support they need to successfully adjust back into civilian lifeHomelessness legislation includes eligibility criteria such as the local connection test, to ensure that resources are prioritised effectively, ensuring accommodation is there for people who need it most. We have already made changes to local connection rules to ensure that veterans are not at a disadvantage as a result of their service.Section 315 of the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008 amended the local connection test to enable armed forces personnel to establish a local connection in an area through residing there by choice, or being employed there, in the same way as a civilian.Service personnel can also apply to the local authority where they are currently based or, if they were previously in another area for 3 out of the last 5 years they could chose to apply to that authority. They could also choose to apply to an area where they have never lived but have close family living, or where they have special reasons for needing to live.

Housing: Solar Power

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has any plans to review Part 14 of the Town and Country (General Permitted Development) Order 2015.

Stuart Andrew: To support the generation of renewable energy, national permitted development rights in Part 14 of the General Permitted Development Order enable the installation of microgeneration renewable energy equipment. While we keep all permitted development rights under review, we have no immediate plans to amend the Part 14 rights.

Cabinet Office

Cabinet Office: Location

Angela Rayner: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 28 February 2022 to Question 128275, Cabinet Office, if he will provide the addresses for each of these sites.

Angela Rayner: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which business units of his Department are based in Downing Street.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: The Cabinet Office is located across the United Kingdom including presence across many of its growth locations such as Glasgow, York and the devolved administrations as part of the Government’s plan to further strengthen the Union. There are a number of Cabinet Office business units which are currently based in Downing Street. Due to the potential security risks, the Cabinet Office is unable to provide a list of business units which are based in Downing Street.

Evening Standard: Advertising

Lucy Powell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the UK Communications Agency classified the Evening Standard as a regional or national newspaper for the purposes of advertising spend in (a) 2018, (b) 2019, (c) 2020, (d) 2021 and (e) 2022.

Lucy Powell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much the Government advertising spend has been in regional newspapers in each of the last five years, by newspaper.

Nigel Adams: The Evening Standard is classified as a regional title. However, due to the coverage and reach that the publication has with the general public and businesses, it is sometimes added to national titles if an upweight is required in the London area. Spend data for the whole of government is not held centrally by the Cabinet Office. However, the Cabinet Office publishes expenditure for its own department, including on public information campaigns, on a rolling monthly basis on GOV.UK as part of routine government transparency arrangements.

Cabinet Office and Prime Minister: Special Advisers

Angela Rayner: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 1 March 2022 to Question 127423 on Prime Minister: Civil Servants and Special Advisers, how many special advisers are the responsibility of (a) the Prime Minister, (b) the Chief of Staff, (c) the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and (d) other Cabinet Office ministers.

Michael Ellis: Information about Special Adviser numbers and appointing ministers is published annually under the requirements of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010. The Annual Report on Special Advisers 2021, published on 15 July 2021, is accessible through GOV.UK. The Annual Report on Special Advisers for the current year will be published in due course.

Undocumented Migrants: English Channel

Angela Rayner: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 2 March 2022 to Question 129816 on Undocumented Migrants: English Channel, if he will outline his role and duties in respect of the Illegal Migration Taskforce.

Michael Ellis: The Domestic and Economic (Illegal Migration) Cabinet Sub-Committee, to which the Illegal Migration Taskforce (IMTF) reports, is chaired by either the Prime Minister, or the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and ensures that the Government’s work to prevent illegal migration to the UK is coordinated. In my role as Minister for the Cabinet Office, I support the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster on the work of the IMTF as directed by them.

Emergencies

John Healey: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he will publish the national resilience strategy.

Michael Ellis: The Integrated Review, published in March 2021, set a goal to strengthen the UK’s national resilience. The Integrated Review also committed to the development of a new Resilience Strategy to set out a new vision and approach to support improvements to our national resilience. Following a successful Call for Evidence in the summer of last year, the government plans to publish the Strategy in spring 2022.

Prime Minister: Social Media

Geraint Davies: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much the Prime Minister's Office spent in total on social media advertising in (a) 2019, (b) 2020, (c) 2021 and (d) 2022 as of 28 February 2022; and on which platforms that money was spent.

Geraint Davies: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much his Department spent in total on social media advertising in (a) 2019, (b) 2020, (c) 2021 and (d) 2022 as of 28 February 2022; and on which platforms that money was spent.

Nigel Adams: Social Media is an integral part of the Cabinet Office's strategy for communications, therefore data on how much we spend on social media is not split out from wider communications spend.Routine transparency spend data, broken down by supplier for each year requested, can be found here. For reporting purposes, Cabinet Office accounts include No10, therefore specifics on the Prime Minister’s Office are not split out separately.

Defibrillators

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he has plans to mandate defibrillators to be located in all government managed buildings and infrastructure.

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the cost of a defibrillator has prevented the government from mandating their access in all government managed buildings and infrastructure.

Mr Jacob Rees-Mogg: There are no plans to mandate defibrillators be located in all government buildings and infrastructure. Health and safety legislation does not require an employer to have an automated external defibrillator (AED) in the workplace. Where an employer has identified through their needs assessment that they wish to provide an AED in the workplace, then the Provision and Use of Workplace Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER) apply. This was not a decision based on cost, but it is worth noting that individual government departments are responsible for their own estate and the installation of defibrillators, with the exception of where the Government Property agency manages their office portfolio.

Platinum Jubilee 2022: Medals

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to honour the veterans during the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

Leo Docherty: The Government is totally committed to championing our veterans, and ensuring they have the support they need to thrive in civilian life. We recently launched a new Veterans' Strategy Action Plan, which sets out our commitments to the veteran community. To mark the 70th anniversary of Her Majesty The Queen’s accession, a commemorative medal, the Platinum Jubilee Medal, will be awarded to those serving in the Armed Forces and certain other public services on 6th February 2022, and who have completed the required five years’ service. This approach is consistent with that taken for the Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012.

Department for International Trade

Department for International Trade: Public Expenditure

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, if she will (a) list the spending programmes her Department devolves for administration to local government in England and other local spending bodies and (b) specify the value for each programme for every year for which budgets are agreed.

Penny Mordaunt: While the Department for International Trade (DIT) work with delivery partners to provide support to the English regions in the forms of grants, the funding for such grants are not devolved, except for the Northern Powerhouse and Midlands Engine Key Account Management (KAM) programmes. The amounts allocated for the 21/22 financial year are £1m and £0.5m respectively.

African Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, if she will publish the Memorandum of Understanding between the UK and the Secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area.

Penny Mordaunt: The UK’s strong support for the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), the African Union’s most ambitious regional economic integration initiative, was highlighted by the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the AfCFTA Secretariat and the UK. This was the first of its kind with a non-African country. As a non-binding MoU, it will not be published. However, it will provide the UK and the AfCFTA Secretariat a framework for partnership on implementation of the agreement, trade facilitation and investment.

Humanitarian Aid: EU Countries

Joanna Cherry: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment he has made of the impact of (a) trade rules implemented following the UK's departure from the EU and (b) rules on sending charitable donations of goods to EU countries on the number of shipments of humanitarian aid from the UK to EU countries, such as Greece and Poland.

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: British goods exports to the EU were up 4.1% in 2021 on the previous year, whilst British goods imports from the EU were down 4.5% in the same period. Although customs processes must still be followed, humanitarian goods are subject to customs duty relief. Businesses and charities can contact the Export Support Service for help relating to the Ukraine crisis.

Overseas Investment and Trade Agreements: Indigenous People

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that protecting (a) the environment and (b) the human rights of indigenous communities are embedded in future trade and investment agreements.

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: HM Government is committed to upholding rights and responsibilities around the world, which guide our international policy, including our approach to trade. We are protecting the environment through our recently signed trade deals with Australia and New Zealand, which go beyond precedent. They preserve our right to regulate to meet net zero, affirm our shared commitment to the Paris Agreement and seek to cooperate on a range of environmental issues.

UK Export Finance: Russia

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 7 March 2022 to Question 131131, what latest assessment she has made of the ability of UK exporters to complete the delivery of contracts to buyers in the Russian Federation in those outstanding cases where their contract bonds are underwritten by UK Export Finance.

Mike Freer: UK Export Finance (UKEF) is closely monitoring the impact of the current situation on transactions that it has supported in the Russian Federation. UKEF follows robust due diligence processes before providing support for any transaction, including appropriate assessment of attendant risks. UKEF charges a risk-based premium to companies for its support, and has a robust recovery process in place to protect the taxpayer and offset potential losses.

Preferential Tariffs: Japan

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what the Preference Utilisation Rates are in total for UK trade with Japan for each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what the Preference Utilisation Rates are in total for UK trade with South Korea for each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what the Preference Utilisation Rates are in total for UK trade with (a) Albania, (b) Columbia, (c) Ecuador, (d) Peru, (e) Canada and (f) Cameroon for each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what the Preference Utilisation Rates are in total for UK trade with (a) Antigua and Barbuda, (b) Bahamas, (c) Barbados, (d) Belize, (e) Dominica, (f) Dominican Republic, (g) Grenada, (h) Guyana, (i) Jamaica, (j) St Kitts and Nevis, (k) Saint Lucia, (l) St Vincent and Grenadines, (m) Suriname, (n) Trinidad and Tobago and (o) for the Cariforum Trade Bloc as a whole in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what the Preference Utilisation Rates are in total for UK trade with (a) Costa Rica, (b) El Salvador, (c) Guatemala, (d) Honduras, (e) Nicaragua, (f) Panama, (g) Chile and (h) Cote d’Ivoire for each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what the Preference Utilisation Rates are in total for UK trade with (a) Mauritius, (b) Seychelles, (c) Zimbabwe and (d) the ESA trade bloc as a whole for each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what the Preference Utilisation Rates are in total for UK trade with (a) Egypt, (b) Faroe Islands, (c) Georgia, (d) Ghana, (e) Israel, (f) Jordan, (g) Kenya, (h) Kosovo, (i) Lebanon and (j) Liechtenstein for each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what the Preference Utilisation Rates are in total for UK trade with (a) Iceland, (b) Norway and (c) Iceland and Norway together for each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what the Preference Utilisation Rates are in total for UK trade with (a) Mexico, (b) Morocco, (c) North Macedonia, (d) Palestinian Authority, (e) Serbia and (f) Singapore for each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what the Preference Utilisation Rates are in total for UK trade with (a) Fiji, (b) Papa New Guinea, (c) Samoa and (d) Solomon Islands for each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what the Preference Utilisation Rates are in total for UK trade with (a) Botswana, (b) Eswatini, (c) Lesotho, (d) Mozambique, (e) Namibia, (f) South Africa and (g) the SACUM Trade Bloc as a whole for each of the last 5 years; and if she will make a statement.

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what the Preference Utilisation Rates are in total for UK trade with (a) Switzerland, (b) Tunisia, (c) Turkey, (d) Ukraine and (e) Vietnam for each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: Data up to the end of January 2020 is publicly available, but no comparable data is available for after this period. Exports analysis 2017-19: https://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/html/159047.htmImports analysis 2017-19: https://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/html/159046.htmEurostat preference utilisation data for all periods 2000 to end January 2020: Easy Comext, Adjusted extra-EU imports since 2000 by tariff regime (DS-059281).

Meat: Australia and New Zealand

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether meat imports tonnage restrictions included in the trade deals with Australia and New Zealand are based on carcass or deboned weight.

Penny Mordaunt: All UK meat imports under the UK-Australia deal will be measured in product weight – this is the weight of the final shipped product and is irrespective of the type of cut (meaning it could be a carcass or deboned). For the New Zealand FTA, all meat imports except for sheep meat will also be measured in product weight. Imports of sheep meat will be measured using carcass weight equivalent. This means sheep meat products will be measured in terms of the whole carcass, rather than the final deboned cut of meat (i.e. the final shipped product weight).

Trade Agreements: USA

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether her Department has made progress on securing trade deals with individual American states.

Penny Mordaunt: The Government is engaging across the US to enhance our existing sub-federal relationships. We want to make it easier, cheaper and quicker for UK and US businesses to work together. We are taking a twin track approach to trading with the US, seeking out ways to unlock barriers for businesses at the state level in addition to our engagement at the federal level. This includes pursuing Memorandums of Understanding (MOU), as well as other tools such as mutual recognition agreements with states. This complements our continued efforts to strike a free trade agreement with the federal government.

Trade Agreements: New Zealand

Paul Girvan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what discussions her Department has had with (a) the Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs and (b) the Ulster Farmers Union on the provisions of the UK trade deal with New Zealand.

Penny Mordaunt: The Department for International Trade (DIT) engages closely with the Northern Ireland Executive to ensure the agricultural sector is consulted extensively on our trade policy, including the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs working closely with the Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs. As members of DIT’s Trade Advisory Groups, senior representatives of the Ulster Farmers Union were regularly consulted throughout the negotiations with New Zealand and at key milestones: before agreement in principle was reached in August 2021; at the point of agreement in principle in October 2021; and at signature in February 2022.

Question

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether the Government plans to continue providing (a) trade and investment services and (b) practical support for UK businesses that seek to trade with Russia; and whether she has made an assessment of the compatibility of such support with UK national interests.

Mike Freer: I refer the Hon. Member for Slough to the answer I gave to the Hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull East on 9 March 2022, UIN: 134355.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: Social Media

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how much her Department spent in total on social media advertising in (a) 2019, (b) 2020, (c) 2021 and (d) 2022 as of 28 February 2022; and on which platforms that money was spent.

Julia Lopez: Social media and digital communications are an essential part of government communications, helping to inform the public directly about matters which may affect their lives or interests. To reliably reach key audiences, DCMS commits a modest amount of budget to social media advertising each year. All DCMS communications spend is compliant with the communications spend control, which ensures any money spent on government communications is cost-effective and reflects best practices.a) 2019: £4,912.00 on Facebook, Instagram and Twitterb) 2020: £61,671.00 on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn advertisingc) 2021: £9,250 on Facebook and Twitter advertisingd) 2022 (up to 28 February): £42,706.34 on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube advertising